The developers of the St. James building are leading a revival in downtown Huntington by offering luxurious condominiums for the discriminating consumer
By Marla Brannan
HQ 62 | SUMMER 2007
There was a time, not so long ago, when downtown Huntington bustled with life. People residing within the city limits could live out the broad spectrum of their lives downtown. Then the mall came and I-64 skirted the city and for 30 years downtown became the somewhat gloomy home of city and federal offices, lawyers, the occasional restaurant, the occasional business. Empty storefronts abounded: There was no life.
But on November 19, 2004, the Superblock became Pullman Square and even the casual observer began to notice its domino affect. First, buildings across 3rd Avenue were refurbished, then the 9th Street Plaza. Now businesses and new restaurants are popping up on 4th Avenue as well. But there is still an obvious distance to cover before downtown Huntington will be bustling once again. What will bring life back to the city?
How about a significant population calling downtown home? How about young professionals and retired couples alike living, working, shopping, doing business within a couple blocks of where they live? Well, downtown living is available, and becoming an even more attractive option with each passing month.
Michael Rafey is President of Swiss Capital Group, a development company based in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., that buys real estate with the intention of forming owner-run condominiums. He passed on the opportunity to buy in New Orleans for the chance to procure the St. James building on the corner of 10th Street and 4th Avenue downtown. Why?
“The data on Huntington’s growth and prospective growth is excellent,” he explains. “It’s not just Pullman Square — it’s the hospitals expanding their staff, especially physicians, the University and Medical School expanding, younger couples relocating. This place is about to take off.”
The St. James was built in the early 1900s as a bank building with commercial rentals. In the 1970s someone developed floors 6-12 with 53 one and two bedroom apartments, which have been rented ever since. “When we bought it we condoed the entire building,” says Michael, “so now Fifth/Third Bank can buy their own work space and have a say along with condo owners in how the building is run. We’ve simply bought and developed the space; soon every member of this condo association, everyone who owns property in this building, will own the St. James and I will go back to Florida having offered residents of Huntington a style of living they’ve never had before.”
And the style of living the St. James offers is certainly chic: secure private garage, beautiful lobby with door man and concierge to help with everything from safety to groceries. There is also a library and card room, fitness center with sauna and spa and a rooftop garden with unbelievable views of downtown and the river. All of these amenities—and residents haven’t even stepped foot through their own front door! Inside the condos the elegance continues. Offering eight different one or two bedroom floor plans with between 618 and 1,354 square feet, the St. James Management Group brings to buyers an architect and a Creative Kitchens designer as part of the purchase price. Condos sell for between $75,000 and $288,000 with changes made added into the final asking price.
Other development groups and individuals are beginning to buy real estate focused on downtown living as well. A group of young professionals started a firm called Commodore Holding LLC, and have bought the former Keen Jewelers building on the 9th Street Plaza. The first floor will be retail/office space while the upper floors will be four upscale condos with 14 foot ceilings and seven foot windows. They hope to have the condos, dubbed the Ninth Street Flats, ready to go by the end of the summer.
Gary Pommerenck, President of CM Love Hardware, is planning seven upscale apartments above the store at the corner of 3rd Avenue and 10th Street. “The apartments will be true lofts, with exposed ductwork and open, airy floor plans that include a laundry room, two sink bathrooms with separate soaking tubs and showers, stainless appliances, eleven foot ceilings and original wood floors,” Pommerenck says. “We’re looking at renting toward the end of first quarter 2008.”
To read the rest of “Downtown Living,” please visit the Back Issues page of our website to purchase this issue of the Huntington Quarterly.
