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Downtown Shreveport is experiencing a time of unprecedented residential development activity. HRI has begun construction on 105 units in the Lee Hardware and United Jeweler’s Buildings while Leon Dayries is developing seven units in the former Salvation Army Building. Additional owner occupied units are planned for Texas Street and developers are looking at other opportunities within the core. The timing of this activity is no mystery. The downtown residential trend is sweeping the country and Shreveport owners are recognizing the opportunity. In addition, downtown property owners have re-evaluated the value of their holdings in light of the soft office market and the lower asking prices are more in line with the economics of adaptive reuse. The purpose of this document is to illustrate the possibility of converting five older downtown Shreveport buildings into residential apartments. The Selber, Allen, Johnson, Rubenstein and Lanford Buildings were selected because they represent the wide variety of older building types in downtown. The conditions encountered in these buildings are representative of conditions to be found in downtown Shreveport’s older structures. This study demonstrates how the floor plan of each building accommodates residential use and the costs associated with the proposed design. In all buildings, residential units are programmed on and above the second floor with open plans designed to maximize the use of natural light. Restaurant, retail, gallery and entertainment uses are anticipated on the ground floors. The cost for improvements of the retail space is assumed to be borne by the retailer. A pro-forma spreadsheet has been developed for each building and is included on diskette, allowing prospective developers to “run the numbers” using their own set of assumptions. (The pro-forma was developed using Excel in an IBM compatible format). Developers are encouraged to modify the proposed plans and pro-forma as they see fit. The architectural schematics and costs in this document were developed to illustrate one possibility. For more information and cost detail, call the Downtown Development Authority at (318) 222-7403. For in-depth discussion on the architectural issues, call AE Design, (318)424-3274. Special Thanks The Downtown Development Authority thanks the property owners for their participation in this study and the staff of AE Design for their patience and creativity. Thanks are also due to the Association of General Contractors for their assistance in helping us start this effort. Allen Building | Johnson Building |
Rubenstein / Lanford Buildings
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