Business Courier Article: Three more downtown buildings to house apartments: Tom DemeropolisReporter- Cincinnati Business CourierEmail | Twitter | Google+ | LinkedIn A Columbus developer plans to buy three historic buildings in downtown Cincinnati and convert them into apartments. Peak Property Group is under contract to purchase 106 W. Seventh St., 22 W. Seventh St., and 24-26 W. Seventh St. Andrew Lallathin, managing partner at Peak Property, said he’s planning to build a total of 75 apartments in the three buildings. “These three buildings really make up a nice corridor in the immediate neighborhood,” Lallathin told me. The plan calls for 45 one-bedroom apartments and 30 two-bedroom apartments, as well as 15,000 square feet of first floor retail space. Lallathin declined to disclose a dollar figure for the project. The Mill End Drapery Building, located at 26 W. Seventh St., is listed for $975,000 on the commercial real estate listing website LoopNet by Don Murphy with Cassidy Turley Commercial Real Estate Services. The neighboring building, 22 W. Seventh St., is listed for $459,900 by Todd Helton with Sibcy Cline Realtors. And on the west side of Race Street, Nat Comisar Group with Sibcy Cline has the building at 106 W. Seventh St. listed for $1 million. There will be 31 units in the Robertson Building, located at 106 W. Seventh St., 30 units in the Oskamp Nolting Building, or the Mill End Drapery Building, and 14 units in the Lancaster Building, located at 22 W. Seventh St. The one-bedroom apartments will range in size from 600 to 840 square feet, and the two-bedroom units will range from 850 to 1,100 square feet. Lallathin said Peak Property Group has completed most of its due diligence for acquiring all three buildings, each of which has a different owner. The total project would rejuvenate more than 100,000 square feet of space along Seventh Street. These new apartments would add to the growing lineup of proposed apartment conversion projects in downtown Cincinnati. Over the past year, more than at least a half dozen apartment projects have been announced. These projects would add more than 1,100 units to the center city. Examples include the Schwartz Building on Main Street, the Fountain Place apartments above Macy’s, and the conversion of office space to apartments in the AT580 building. Unlike most of the proposed or in-development apartment projects, Lallathin said he’s not planning to aim for the luxury apartment market. The rent is expected to range between $700 and $900 a month. The proposed project will be developed by PPG Westward Development LLC, a partnership between Peak Property Group and Westward Development Co. LLC. The total investment in the buildings will be about $17.5 million. The renovation of the buildings is expected to increase the market valuation to more than $8 million from about $2 million. Peak Properties submitted its application on Monday to the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program, which provides a 25 percent tax credit for the rehabilitation expenses to owners and lessees of historically significant buildings. The cutoff date to apply was Sept. 30. Lallathin said he expects to hear back on the application by late November or early December. A total of $30 million in tax credit allocation is currently available for this round of applicants. He also plans to build the new apartment units to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards to receive the city of Cincinnati’s tax abatement. Lallathin’s goal is to start construction in the first quarter of 2014. The architect for the project is Columbus-based Berardi + Partners. Lallathin is in discussions with four different construction companies about the project. One thing the buildings don’t have is dedicated parking, but Lallathin said the goal is to promote public transportation and bicycles. He said bike storage will be an important component of all the buildings. Plus, there are a number of parking garages nearby. Lallathin formed Peak Property Group in 2009 with James Harkrider. The company also has offices in Santa Barbara, Calif., and Muncie, Ind. By the end of this month, Peak Property Group will own or manage about 1,500 apartment units. Demeropolis covers retail, restaurants and technology. .
Posted on: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 17:16:34 +0000
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