ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, June 4, 1996 TAG: 9606040032
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
BUILDING OWNERS are capitalizing on the potential of downtown, creating beauty and viable businesses.
A renovated Roanoke City Market building has reopened and construction has just begun on a nearby structure as demand for downtown retail space has picked up.
Leman Dudley, owner of the building at 14 Campbell Ave. SE, said she invested nearly $1 million in the restoration project. The structure housed Mish Mish Inc., an architect's and artist's supply store, until the Blacksburg-based company closed its Roanoke store in January 1995.
Meanwhile, Roanoke investor William J. Lemon has started renovation of the former Morgan Eubank Furniture Co. building on Salem Avenue immediately behind Dudley's structure and across from First Union Tower.
Dudley has renamed her building La Pasaj, a phrase meaning mini-mall in the Turkish language. Its interior is decorated with a Mediterranean theme, featuring a central atrium with a fountain.
There's room for eight or nine tenants on the building's four levels in spaces ranging from 500 to 4,000 square feet. Each space has its own entrance and private bathroom. They are being offered as retail spaces rather than as offices, she said.
So far, the only tenant is Dudley's own gift and flower shop, which she calls Chi Chek. It occupies 1,400 square feet on the second level, accessible by a new elevator.
Dudley believes that the prospects for her retail center are good. "This is the time to do new and different things on the City Market," she said.
Lemon said he had no estimate of the cost of his project, but the office of the Roanoke building commissioner said the permit for work under way values it at $500,000. Lemon said he intends to create a shell building with three floors of open space. He will complete each space to the specifications of the tenants, although tenants will also have the option of doing their own finishing work.
No tenants have been signed so far. Lemon said he is doing the renovations on a speculative basis because he believes the City Market has good potential for further development.
Hill Studios of Roanoke is the architectural firm, and the contractor is R.L. Price Construction Co. of Salem.
The work includes plumbing, electrical service, installation of an elevator, construction of an entrance lobby and restoration of the facade. The building will have 15,000 square feet of leasable space on the three floors. The shell is scheduled to be ready about July 15.
Whether it is leased for retail or office usage will depend on tenant demand.
Jim Hodges of Hall Associates Inc., a Roanoke commercial realty broker, said there is a strong demand for retail space in the Roanoke City Market area.
On the other hand, Hodges said, the market for office space all over downtown Roanoke is still very soft. Recent surveys have shown that between 11 and 16 percent of downtown office space is vacant.
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff 1. Leman Dudley operates herby CNBinternational florist and gift shop, which she named Chi Chek, from
inside her building, La Pasaj, at 14 East Campbell Avenue. 2. La
Pasaj's 2nd floor atrium is aesthetically enhanced by a
fountain.color.