I spoke with Ben Schwartz, one of a set of siblings that own the developing property at Ross and Hall. Their maternal grandparents passed the property down to them about two years ago, but the Schwartz siblings had to wait until the existing leases expired before renovating the property.
Ben is an office real estate broker in California, and he is hoping to make this a family project that will be passed down to their children and future generations of their family. Ben also expressed a desire for this property to respect the history of the neighborhood. For example, the team is searching for historic brick to restore the original look of the building, and the decision to conserve portions of the building has slowed the process considerably.
The Schwartz’s have fielded interest from potential tenants, but have turned them down because they are hoping for quality tenants that will add value to the property. The Schwartz’s have been thoughtful about parking and their relationship with the properties neighbors, and they understand that the surrounding neighborhood will be important for the success of the tenants of the property. For example, Ben stated that they decided to remove a portion of rentable square footage of the building so that they could adequately park the site without seeking any variances from the city and in hopes of avoiding the use of street parking.
The plan is to house two restaurants with a patio in the middle, and to add some retail in the western portion of the property. Mr. Schwartz hopes that they are able to finish the restoration as soon as possible.