by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
One of the first things most people realize soon after they get married is the value of the fine art of compromise.
After John and Jenny Ream tied the knot, Jenny made it clear she wanted to raise a family in a big-city environment and live in a loft with hardwood floors and exposed brick and ceiling beams. Both had grown up in Jacksonville and picking up and moving to New York City didn’t really appeal to John, so the fine art of compromise came into play.
The couple found a building on East Bay Street they thought would fit their needs for a home and could also help revitalize Downtown’s retail scene.
“The first time we looked at the building, it was kind of hard to picture what it could become,” said Jenny Ream.
It was built a few years after the Great Fire of 1901 and according to legend, had at one time been a bait and tackle store in the days when Bay Street was waterfront property. When the Reams closed on the purchase, it had been redecorated with a decidedly 1970s decor.
“It had this horrible green shag carpet that was actually brown in some places and a suspended ceiling made of those old fashioned acoustic tiles,” said John Ream.
“It also had drywall, but when I kicked out a piece of it and saw this beautiful old brick underneath, I knew the space had a lot of potential. I also knew we were going to have do to quite a bit of demolition.”
That led to the first of many creative solutions that were required to convert a century-old building into a single-family mixed-use development loft with a space that could be leased for retail underneath it on the street-level floor.
“We set up a bar downstairs during the Super Bowl. We made enough money to finance the demolition,” he recalled.
The Reams said they love living in their new home, which went from ‘70s shag to a 1,200 square-foot space like you’d find in midtown Manhattan, but with the advantage of the couple not having to move away from their hometown and families.
When asked what’s the best part about the project’s end result, Jenny Ream said other than coming home to just the kind of living space she always dreamed about, having Downtown’s entertainment and recreation opportunities at her fingertips has turned out to be a big advantage.
“We didn’t realize how much goes on Downtown until we moved here,” she said. “It’s been a blast. There are shows at the Florida Theatre and the T-U Center plus football games and all the things that happen at the Riverwalk. It’s also been great for our four month old daughter. Every time we put Lilly in her stroller and go for a walk, she just falls asleep. She even slept through the fireworks after the Boat Parade.”
John Ream also said it’s turning out to be a great place to raise a family and he hopes what they have been able to accomplish might inspire others to tackle similar projects Downtown.
“We can’t depend on people from out of town with deep pockets to come here and build more housing,” he said. “They want money from the City and tax incentives and when real estate gets soft, they pull out of the market.
“We feel local residents doing smaller-scale developments can really help revitalize Downtown.”