Big reveal: 500 apartment blocks

Douglas Development has submitted plans to renovate four buildings in the 500 block of Main Street. The structures at 515-521 and 525-29 Main Street will include residential and commercial space. Ten apartments will be located at 515-521 Main, six at 525 Main and nine at 529 Main. Tenant parking will be located on land owned by Douglas Development at Washington and E. Mohawk streets.

The buildings at 515 and 521 Main Street will undergo interior modifications to the upper floors, modifications to the windows at the rear of the facades and new windows are proposed on the south facade of 515 Main Street.

The biggest exterior change will be to 525 Main Street, a non-contributing structure located in the historic district.

From the application:

The historic building will undergo modifications to the interior, the upper floors will be converted into housing (6 new housing units) with shops on the ground floor. Exterior works will include replacing windows on the east elevation and west elevation, uncovering and restoring the west elevation at ground floor storefront level, and adding a new storefront to the one-story section of the east elevation..

In locations where the original window openings were filled with CMU, the filling will be removed and the original window opening restored. The contemporary windows will be replaced by wooden windows covered with aluminum. Renovation of the storefront on the west façade will involve removal of existing EFIS and stucco and repair of the historic façade below. On the east elevation, the existing CMU infill will be removed and replaced with an aluminum storefront..

Work at 529 Main Street will include new windows on the east and west facades as well as replacing the half-barrel storefront and replacing it with a design consistent with historic 1920s design.

The cost of the project is estimated at $4.2 million. Antunovich Associates is the project architect. The Preservation Board will review the plans Thursday.