Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 10, 1990 TAG: 9006100019
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY BUSINESS WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
At the other end of the block, a house that was beginning to crumble is surrounded by scaffolding and being renovated as lawyers' offices.
The Boxley property, on the market for eight months, is at the corner of Washington Avenue and Franklin Road Southwest. It is on a 155-by-157-foot lot and is for sale at $198,500. It is owned by Dr. Bruce Freeman, a plastic surgeon who recently moved his practice to Norfolk.
Freeman, through demolition contractor Alan Amos, applied in May for a permit to tear down the Boxley house, built by a former Roanoke mayor. Building officials refused the permit until the issue is heard by the city's Architectural Review Board, which must approve any demolition in a historic district. Freeman is not on the board's agenda for June.
Freeman got permission in August 1988 to add to the house to create a plastic-surgery clinic. He bought the house and an adjacent house in 1986 for $250,000. The other house was torn down before the location was designated a historic district. Freeman also got the city to designate $1 million in tax-free bonds to pay for the project.
Freeman originally planned to build a clinic large enough to accommodate two practices. When he didn't find a doctor interested in the project, he had an architect scale back the plans. Freeman didn't think the project was economical, however. He then made the decision to relocate.
Freeman has agreed to sell the lot next to the Boxley house to Lucas Boatwright & Associates, a firm of certified public accountants.
That company's plans for a 4,800-square-foot brick colonial office building have been approved by the Architectural Review Board. Stan Boatwright said the firm will close on property as soon as details of the subdivision of the lot are complete.
He and David Lucas are directors of the firm, which has been in existence since 1982. Its offices are at McClananhan and Broadway in South Roanoke.
Byron Dickson, who restored a Northwest Roanoke house as his office, is the architect for the Lucas-Boatwright project. Plans are to start construction in June.
The Freeman project has been a center of controversy since he first purchased the Washington Avenue property and tore down the house next to the Boxley estate.
Real-estate agent Dennis Cronk said he has shown the W.W. Boxley house several times since its owner applied for the demolition permit. Cronk said he has two more appointments scheduled with prospective buyers.
Cronk said he was unaware that Freeman was going to apply for the demolition permit.
Cronk, who is with Waldvogel, Poe & Cronk, said the Boxley property has been reduced in price during its time on the market. At its present price, Freeman will be losing money on the property, Cronk said. The doctor spent $65,000 preparing the house for renovation.
The house being refitted for lawyers' offices is at 302 Washington. It is under contract to 302 Associates, a partnership of lawyers Deborah Caldwell-Bono and W.F. Mason.
Caldwell-Bono said the house will cost about $150,000 to renovate into five offices.
by CNB