by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
Faced with the prospect of a lease deal gone sour, the owner of the Elks Club building has decided to sell.
“The owner, Berke Wilson, a real estate investor out of Atlanta, and I had worked long and hard to get a lease done,” said Duke Addison, leasing/selling agent with Schultz Foster Addison. “We thought we were close to getting a deal done with a tenant to take the third floor, and in the end it didn’t come together.”
The building, which has 28,000 square feet, is being offered for $2.85 million. It is located at the corner of Laura and West Adams streets.
Addison said a lack of parking was one hurdle Wilson was unable to overcome when trying to lease the building. Wilson also owns the Center Theatre building and had wanted to build a parking lot at that site.
“They were going to drop the Center Theatre building and put a parking lot there,” said Addison. “But, there was a certain segment of the community who didn’t want to see it become a surface parking lot. If the surface lot was there, it would affect things, but since a parking lot is not going to happen, it would be better for an owner/user to buy that building and move in.”
The building was completely gutted and renovated. It has a new roof, air conditioning, windows, restroom, elevator and electrical system.
“The deal that was supposed to happen slipped through our hands,” said Addison. “Berke scratched his head and said, ‘I’ve almost finished the building. It’s basically a brand new building. I’m about 85 percent of the way there but I think I’m going to get it in 100 percent condition and then sell it.’
Addison said he put the building on the market this week and hasn’t had any inquiries so far.
“Not only is he willing selling the whole building, he is considering converting the building to condominiums and selling it on a floor by floor basis,” said Addison, adding there are still some more renovations planned, with that work scheduled to start in January.
Addison said because they were working with a lease prospect, some of the details were not finished, leaving the second and third floor incomplete.
“Now that the lease isn’t here, we are going to finish the work, including the stairwell, chandelier, restroom on second floor, common corridor and common components on second floor and get the third floor in a more presentable condition,” he said.
“The owner is out of Atlanta and there are a bunch of things going on downtown, so rather than holding on to the building as an investor and leasing it, it would make more sense, since things are on an upswing, to sell at a reasonable profit and move on,” said Addison.
Addison said it would be ideal for an owner/user to use 10,000 square feet for an office, keeping the second floor available for future expansion.
“There is some nice retail on the first floor,” said Addison. “There is really no other building downtown that has been renovated like this. The building has so much character to offer. It has the elegance and grace of the 1940s, but the amenities of what you would expect in a project today.”