Downtown Washington real estate booming say city leaders | Local News
The downtown real estate shuffle is fast these days
Several buildings are for sale on West Main Street at the east end of downtown. A new buyer is planning to move in.
1 W. Main St .; 5 W. Main St., Julie Underdown’s former photo studio; and 14 W. Main St., home of Missourian Publishing Co., which is moving downtown operations to its printing facility at 6321 Bluff Road.
Recent sales in the area include the storefront at 3 W. Main St. and 220 Jefferson St., Underdown’s Studio, before moving to Main Street.
At the western end of the city center, the former Otto Furniture Store building on the corner of Elm Street and Second Street is also for sale.
What’s wrong with: 3 and 5 W. Main
Washington-based Kaitlin Holdinghausen, 33, bought the 3 W. Main St. location, which was trading at about $ 450,000, said Liz Stemmley, a saleswoman at Re / Max Gold First. The purchase price was not disclosed. The deal was closed on Friday, May 7th.
Holdinghausen plans to convert the 3,000-square-foot space into their private residence, said Stemmley. Both halves of the former photo business are intended for retail, residential, or a mix of both, she said.
The 3 W. Main St. location is not yet complete, but the 5 W. Main St. location is, and this roughly 3,400 square foot location is listed at just under $ 650,000.
1 and 14 W. Main
Next door, in the 1 W. Main St. building, is the H&R block office and an empty room on the ground floor, as well as empty offices and an early 20th century dance hall on the second floor, according to Julie Burt, sales advisor at Blondin Professional Real estate.
The two floors plus the basement add up to about 11,000 square feet, Burt said.
Owner Don Meyer listed the room for just under $ 800,000.
Missourian Publishing Co.’s 18,155-square-foot building and 1-acre property are on the block for $ 1.2 million.
Market promotion encourages more activity
Once there is a good time to sell, Burt said. With Andy Unerstall’s new downtown condominium building and the Hoffmanns’ purchases for their $ 100 million winery complex in Augusta, there are plenty of people interested in buying local property, she said.
“We always go through downtown crossings and it’s nice to see people come in and fix these buildings,” said Tyler King, executive director of Downtown Washington Inc. “I love that they come in, see them the value in the old town to have their business and obviously the market is hot right now. “
In February 2021, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices’ commercial and residential real estate sales in Franklin County reached 85, up 37 percent since February 2020, according to previous Missourian reports. Year-over-year real estate was 38 percent less on the market time again this February at 63 days.
“There’s definitely an influx of buyers in the market,” said King.
100, 104, 106 W. Main
Unerstall said he is “gutting” the first floor of 100, 104 and 106 W. Main St., known as the Pecka Building, and converting the former first floor office space, one of which belonged to the Loushane Sebastian Salon, into a terrace . There are four apartments above the 480 square meter terrace.
The Loushane Sebastian Salon moves to 221 W. Second St.
Beyond Main
Main Street isn’t the only street where change has been observed.
The former Underdown photo studio at 220 Jefferson Street was acquired on February 12 by Marshall-born Nate Hartung, 47. The list price was $ 350,000, King said. The purchase price was not disclosed.
Larry Rice is also selling the 17,560-square-foot Otto building on Elm Street and Second Street for $ 1.39 million. The first floor of the building is home to the Hive Salon, the second floor is office space for Rices DF Ingredients Inc., and two apartments and an office, formerly a yoga studio, fill the top, he said.
Hartung, a lawyer and consultant for startups, owns a commercial design company and Storybook Genius Publishing, a children’s book publisher.
He temporarily used the building at 220 Jefferson Street as his personal office space, but declined to disclose his future plans. Although he has sold his Augusta-based book publishing facility, he is not sure whether to move operations to St. Louis or the surrounding area.
“It would be fair to say we won’t be a bookstore,” he said. There is one exception, however. He can sell the books he prints through Storybook Genius Publishing.
Rice put the Otto building on the market about six months ago but said he wasn’t desperate to sell it. “It’s only something we decided when a buyer comes and wants it as he is, he can have it or she can have it.”
The 1894 building was first used as a furniture store, but it has been updated with modern conveniences, Rice said. If it sells, his company will move to his other second-floor properties in Union, New Haven, or Washington.
Selling or buying a downtown property that we missed? Send an email to [email protected] and we’ll add it to the online version of the story.