Last night, I was given the unique opportunity to tour the McOuat building with Nancy Gibbs, the Project Manager. Ms. Gibbs relayed to me that the McOuat (pronounced Mi-coo-it) was empty for 24 years, so it is amazing to me that it is in as good of shape as it is. The building formerly housed a sporting goods store, with each floor dedicated to a different sport, which is certainly a quaint idea to our 21st century shopping habits.
The first floor will likely have a restaurant and features very high ceilings:
The second floor will be an office space:
Finally, the 3rd through the 7th floors will be 1 bedroom apartments:
A nice view from a west-facing doorway:
It’s great to see this building brought back to life. Renovation could be completed as soon as late October.
According to IBJ, this was ten years in the making ! If the other drab buildings downtown could be turned around like this, they all would benefit from the ‘density’ of urban living.
Yes, it is coming around at the right time too, with high energy prices and an increased desire for downtown living. Nancy and I were hoping that the parking lot across the street could be built upon in the near future as well.
Right time and perfect execution.
Great Update Kevin – and I agree great to see building brought back to life especially in such a prominent location.
I live down the street and have been watching this property. We may have had an interest but it is too bad they decided to only make these 1 BR. We have a pretty massive two bedroom overlooking Washington St. Living downtown is the best!! Really happy to see more apartments around downtown. I am also excited to see what the restaurant will be on the first floor!!
After viewing them, it was pretty understandable that they went with 1 BR. The building is quite narrow, and the elevators , stairs, and hallway take up almost 1/3 of each floor.