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Tuesday, October 21, 2008
The downstairs will be commercial space and the upstairs will be apartments,
the new owner says.
By Amy Matzke
AMY MATZKE The Roanoke
Times
What is known to many as the Radford Pottery building,
which also served as Grand Furniture and Piano, will be renovated with separate
facades reflecting the 1900s and the 1950s, says new owner Joe Fortier.
RADFORD -- An old space is getting a new life.
The vacant 9,400-square-foot building at 107 Third Ave. has been sold to Taylor
Hollow Cos. of Radford for renovation and redevelopment.
The plan is to renovate the downstairs as commercial space and the upstairs
as a yet-to-be determined number of apartments, said Joe Fortier, owner of
Taylor Hollow.
"We want something that works well with what's already in downtown and
that will generate foot traffic," Fortier said.
Fortier said he has ideas about what businesses he would like to see in the
commercial space but isn't able to comment until a deal is finalized.
The building was most recently Radford Pottery, a gift shop that closed
about a year ago, and is still known to many as the Radford Pottery building.
"It was due to labor problems -- we just couldn't find the work
force," said Curtis Graham, owner of Radford City Florist, who owned the
Radford Pottery building for about 10 years.
The building dates to the early 1900s as the Hudson car dealership. It had a ramp leading
to the second floor so people could drive up their cars to be serviced and a
parking lot on the side, Fortier said.
In the 1950s, an addition was built in the parking lot space, Fortier said.
"I'd love to see pictures of that," he said.
The plan is to renovate the building with separate facades reflecting the
1900s and the 1950s, Fortier said.
It also served as Grand Furniture and Piano, whose sign is still visible on
the front of the building.
Taylor Hollow also renovated and sold the M. Jackson Hardware Building that
now houses Sharkey's Rib & Wing Joint, as well as the building that is home
to the Coffee Mill and Pascal's Kitchen.
"I sold those buildings, but I didn't originally plan on that,"
Fortier said. "I don't plan on doing that again -- this one is staying
close."
The corner of Third Avenue
and East Main Street
has been undergoing a transformation, with the opening of Sharkey's this year
and the upgrades to the facade of the BB&T bank, along with the pottery
building.
"That corner ... is going to be a huge hub," said Becky Haupt,
executive director of Main Street Radford.
Taylor Hollow is working with the New River Valley HOME Consortium on the
project, which is made up of officials from Giles, Montgomery, Floyd and
Pulaski counties and the city of Radford
to attract funding through the Federal Department of Housing and Urban
Development.
http://www.roanoke.com/news/nrv/wb/181159
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