Older downtown structures slated for renovations, redevelopment

Architect Tim Rosenbury, a partner at Butler, Rosenbury & Partners, and center-city investor Sam Freeman own three downtown buildings slated for renovation and redevelopment.

Rosenbury and Freeman own the Se-ville Hotel at 220 E. Walnut, the Ozark Camera building at 214 E. Walnut and the Marquette Hotel, also known as the State Hotel, at 400 E. Walnut.

Rosenbury said the Seville was built sometime between 1902 and 1904.

"Our purpose is to redevelop the Seville and turn it into a boutique hotel," Rosenbury said. "It will be called the Grand Seville when it opens, hopefully at the end of 2002."

There's been some demolition work at the Seville to get it ready to open.

"We had to empty it of furniture and the abandoned belongings of former residents," Rosenbury said.

"The Seville functioned as a rooming house from the 1960s until we bought it in 1998," he added.

Rosenbury and Freeman hope to convert the four-story, approximately 30,000 -square-foot building into 32 two-room luxury suites.

They will reopen Gailey's Drug Store, which will have a luncheon counter, and add another fine dining restaurant. Both restaurants will operate on the main floor.

A music club will operate out of the basement.

Rosenbury said construction on the Seville would begin when the business plan and financing are completed.

"This is an unconventional project," he said. "It's in center city, and it's a rehabilitation of an existing building. It's just a matter of time before we get all the arrangements in place."

Butler, Rosenbury & Partners is the architect for the Seville project.

Work on the Ozark Camera building will begin once the Seville is completed.

That building is about 16,000 square feet and it encompasses five floors. Ro-senbury said that while the design work is finished on the Ozark Camera building, he still wants to put in new windows, restore the masonry work and have a new roof put on.

"This is a terrific space," Rosenbury said. "Our plan is to convert the first floor of the building into a ballroom that will connect to the Seville. The ballroom will be a significant contribution to what the Seville has to offer the public."

Freeman and Rosenbury hope to sell the Marquette Hotel.

"It had been a rooming house, but was vacant when we bought it," he said. "It's been emptied of the trash that was in it and been boarded up. We've had some structural rehabilitation work done to it. By that I mean it's been patched up and we've done some work to the roof."

The 30,000-square-foot, three-story building is up for sale. Rosenbury said he believes the Marquette was built in the early 1900s.

Rosenbury said that restoring old buildings isn't something a novice should do without help from architects or consultants who specialize in historic projects.

"You have to appreciate old buildings for what they are," he said. "Don't try and convert them into new ones. Don't scrimp on professional services. Getting other people's help, up front, makes the project more successful at the end."

West Walnut Street

Andrew and Ellen Baird, along with Doug Hesterley, own property at 404, 405, 406, 408 and 420 W. Walnut.

Andrew Baird is a doctoral student at the University of California-Santa Cruz, Ellen Baird is a local artist and Hesterley works for a logistics company.

The Rare Breed, a youth drop-in center affiliated with The Kitchen, is located on the first floor of 408 W. Walnut.

The building was built in the 1930s, and encompasses 6,000 square feet on two levels.

"We've fixed the roof, to keep it from leaking, and have filed an application for historic tax credits," Andrew Baird said.

"We'll replace the facade on the ground floor. But we have no plans of asking the people running the youth drop-in center to move out. We've started renovating the top floor, taking out the old plumbing and electricity, and hope to put in three loft-style apartments. We hope the apartments will be completed by this May," he said.

After work on the Rare Breed building is finished, the Bairds and Hesterley will go to work on 404 W. Walnut.

"We're going to put in two apartments on the top floor," Andrew Baird said. "We may connect 404 W. Walnut to 406 W. Walnut to allow for commercial space."