The cost of renovating and rebuilding two historic apartment buildings in the 600 block of Spanish Town Road will be around $700,000, according to developer Benjamin Stalter, who says the cost is in line with what he and his partners were budgeting.
“We’re still tightening some things, which is pretty typical,” he says. “But I think we’ll come in where we need to be.”
A fire in 2009 destroyed one of the two 1920’s-era buildings and badly damaged the other. For several years, they sat vacant and dilapidated. Businessman John Schneider attempted to buy the buildings, but was never able to make the costly renovation project financially viable.
Last year, Stalter and his partners, Derek Fitch and Robert Lay, acquired both properties for $185,000, saying they plan to use state and federal historic building tax credits to finance the project, which will include renovating the fire-damaged building at 607 Spanish Town Road and building a new, architecturally appropriate building at 609 Spanish Town Road on the site of the building that was totally destroyed.
Construction has been under way since August. In the next two weeks, contractors will pour the slab for the new building, Stalter says. —Stephanie Riegel
