There's continuing movement in the conversion of the old Children's Hospital site in the Elmwood Village, branded as Elmwood Crossing. It's a mix of the delays of construction and moving people and businesses into new space.
Building in the Elmwood Village is always complex, with lots of people who are fussy about their community and developers who want what they want who often collide in court. That's true for the $15 million conversion of the heartland buildings of the project, a joint effort of Ellicott Development and Sinatra & Company.
"All the other units are leased. There's probably about 16-18 people living in there now. Another 4-5 moving in shortly," said Ellicott CEO William Paladino. "The second floor, we have a mix of residential and office. Then we have, I think, a 5,000-square-foot office tenant. Four residential units on that floor and we have about 4,000-square-feet left to lease, which we're talking to some people on. So we would hope by June of this year, we will have a 100% occupied building there."
Paladino said there is a lot going on is the same area.
"If you start on Hodge Street, People Inc. is working a portion of the building over there, the building they are currently renovating. The other portion of the building on Hodge, next to that, is under renovation currently," he said. "Then, the next logical step is moving into the main taller buildings, Variety, Tanner and Alfiero. As I said, once Parks approves that, we can get our drawings done, which should probably take four to six months to do."
Paladino said once all of the various government approvals are complete and a lawsuit runs its course, the goal is to start tower rehab in late summer or fall. While details aren't complete, he expects around 150 housing units, some commercial space and potentially a small boutique hotel. That depends on the hotel demand in these times.
"Tanner will stay pretty much as it is because it's historic. Variety? That will be up for Park's approval, to change the facade of that, as we discussed with the neighborhood and with the city," Paladino said. "So we'll be making a lot of changes, adding balconies and changing the exterior facade there. On the interior, we will be doing a number of condominiums and apartments and possibly some office space."
In another part of the complex, Folwell Apartments from People Inc. is going into a former maternity building, providing 44 apartments for low-income seniors.
