Developer Bill Turner eyes the 14-foot ceilings in one of the fifth-floor lofts of the former Fife Street Apartments. The arched living-room window offers a commanding view of Capitol Street.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Charleston's downtown population will soon get a big boost as the former Fife Street Apartments reopen as upscale lofts.
Developers Bill Turner and Mike Miller hope to rent out the top four floors of what's commonly called the Ellen's Ice Cream building by the end of the year.
With rents for two-bedroom apartments topping out at $1,000 a month, you can rest assured the place will attract a different clientele than the tenants previously attracted by the landlord's Mod Rehab rent subsidies.
Through their company Newport One LLC, Turner, Miller and Lewis Whaley bought the building last fall from engineer Tom Blair for $635,000.
Blair and his partners bought the five-story building from Rite-Aid in 1985 and renovated it with a $1.3 million loan from the W.Va. Housing Development Fund. Agencies like Prestera and Shawnee Hills often placed or referred clients in its low-income apartments. Its rents were subsidized through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Moderate Rehabilitation (Mod Rehab) program.
But in recent years the building fell into disrepair as tenants moved out and the Kanawha-Charleston Housing Authority cancelled the rent subsidies. The Housing Development Fund was about to foreclose on Blair's loan when Turner's group stepped up.
Almost a year and about $2 million later, their project is nearly complete. Turner and Miller showed some visitors around last week, starting outside.
"We replaced the windows around the building, about 150 windows," Turner said. "We replaced the roof, and we're starting the exterior cleaning and renovations."
Contractors began to erect scaffolding on the Capitol Street side early last week and stretched orange plastic fence along Brawley Walkway to create a safety zone there.
After clearing the plan through the downtown Architectural Review Committee and the State Historic Preservation Office, Turner said he'll repaint with the current color scheme. He hopes to qualify for both state and federal tax credits -- up to 30 percent -- for renovating in accordance with official historical guidelines.
"This building is on the historic register," he said. "It's part of the [downtown] historic district and it's also listed individually.
"The building will still be the Loewenstein & Sons building," as lettering across the front indicates.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Charleston's downtown population will soon get a big boost as the former Fife Street Apartments reopen as upscale lofts.
Developers Bill Turner and Mike Miller hope to rent out the top four floors of what's commonly called the Ellen's Ice Cream building by the end of the year.
With rents for two-bedroom apartments topping out at $1,000 a month, you can rest assured the place will attract a different clientele than the tenants previously attracted by the landlord's Mod Rehab rent subsidies.
Through their company Newport One LLC, Turner, Miller and Lewis Whaley bought the building last fall from engineer Tom Blair for $635,000.
Blair and his partners bought the five-story building from Rite-Aid in 1985 and renovated it with a $1.3 million loan from the W.Va. Housing Development Fund. Agencies like Prestera and Shawnee Hills often placed or referred clients in its low-income apartments. Its rents were subsidized through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Moderate Rehabilitation (Mod Rehab) program.
But in recent years the building fell into disrepair as tenants moved out and the Kanawha-Charleston Housing Authority cancelled the rent subsidies. The Housing Development Fund was about to foreclose on Blair's loan when Turner's group stepped up.
Almost a year and about $2 million later, their project is nearly complete. Turner and Miller showed some visitors around last week, starting outside.
"We replaced the windows around the building, about 150 windows," Turner said. "We replaced the roof, and we're starting the exterior cleaning and renovations."
Contractors began to erect scaffolding on the Capitol Street side early last week and stretched orange plastic fence along Brawley Walkway to create a safety zone there.
After clearing the plan through the downtown Architectural Review Committee and the State Historic Preservation Office, Turner said he'll repaint with the current color scheme. He hopes to qualify for both state and federal tax credits -- up to 30 percent -- for renovating in accordance with official historical guidelines.
"This building is on the historic register," he said. "It's part of the [downtown] historic district and it's also listed individually.
"The building will still be the Loewenstein & Sons building," as lettering across the front indicates.
Still sturdy at more than 100 years old, the structure began its life as home to the Loewenstein Hardware Co.
"This building was built in 1900, finished around 1901, and used for a hardware store for years. Then it became a Kresge's," Turner said. Kresge, predecessor to the Kmart chain, gave way to a drugstore -- Rite-Aid.
The popular ice cream store owned by Symphony flautist Ellen Beal, a fixture since 1997, will remain in the Capitol Street storefront, Turner said. He's fixing up first-floor office space in the rear for an unnamed tenant that will move in later this year.
Meanwhile, contractors from High Point Construction Group of Buckhannon have been renovating the upstairs apartments, following designs by Associated Architects.
By rearranging and combining spaces, they've turned 36 apartments into 24. Eight of them, mostly those facing Capitol Street, have two bedrooms. The rest have one or one and a half bedrooms, Turner said.
Workers started by completely gutting the upper floors. "Everything's been renovated -- all new plumbing, electrical, heating, sprinkler systems."
They ripped out eight-foot ceilings to expose the tops of the tall arched windows facing Capitol Street. "All the two-bedroom lofts have 11- to 15-foot ceilings."
Interior finishes -- yet to be installed -- will be high-end, he said. "Amenities will include hardwood flooring, granite, porcelain, custom cabinets."
Rents, too, will soar. "Rents will range from $800 to $1,000, including water, sewer, trash and parking." Tenants will get assigned spaces in city parking garage on Summers Street, with access on a second-floor bridge over an alley. The bridge should be built in about a month, he said.
Turner isn't leasing yet, but he's been putting names on a waiting list. For information, call 304-342-2766.
Through it all, Turner said he's been able to keep his sense of humor. "You've gotta have that, because when you knock out a wall you don't know what you'll find."
Reach Jim Balow at ba...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5102.
