Renovated Busy Bee set for unveiling

Owners Tom and Nancy Dornan and Reg Cordry are inviting the public to tour the 324 Park Central West building’s nine lofts and first-floor retail space 4–6 p.m. The entrance is on the north side.

The building was completed Dec. 15, and three loft tenants have moved in. Tom Dornan said he’s in talks with retailers for the first floor’s 3,000 square feet of space – which can be used as one, two or three units – but he wouldn’t disclose names.

Finishing interior touches to the retail floor still need to be made, Dornan said, but that will happen when a tenant leases space and indicates how it should look.

In addition to retail space on the first floor, Dornan said the basement could be partitioned into one or two units.

On the upper floors, there are lofts with one bedroom and one bathroom, two bedrooms and one bathroom, and two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Sizes are 716 square feet, 800 square feet and 1,080 square feet; rent begins at $650 per month and tops out at $1,275.

“(The lofts) really turned out good,” Dornan said, calling them “somewhat upscale.” Features include granite countertops, stainless steel kitchen appliances, washer-and-dryer units and ceramic tile in the bathrooms.

Construction took about a year and a half. Financing came from Valley State Bank in Kansas, a city loan and tax credits.

The general contractor was John Moody Co., and Stephen P. Maslan of Kansas City was the architect and engineer.