Two small, but significant, redevelopment projects on Grand Boulevard are now underway.
BallastCRE's redevelopment of the 1500 South Grand building (Grand and Park Avenue) has been underway for a few months now, but visible progress has been made. The staircase on the northern wall has been mostly removed and some of the stucco panels on the first floor have been removed in favor of wood board. If you look closely, you'll also notice that all the old walls on the upper floors of the building have been removed too allowing you to see windows on the opposite side of the building. Ballast's plan, which is designed by Trivers and built by Blackline Construction, includes 27 apartments as well as basement level amenities and two ground floor retail bays.
Further south on Grand, the long awaited redevelopment of the historic Grandview Arcade/Melba Theater building (3600 South Grand) by Garcia Properties, is now underway. A building permit for interior alterations in the amount of $50,000 was issued on September 17th, a construction fence recently appeared around the building, and a trash chute has appeared on the south side of the building. Garcia's plan for the property, which was originally announced in 2018, includes 8 live-work spaces, 9 single-worker office spaces in the old arcade portion, and 12 market-rate apartments on the 2nd and 3rd floors. Based on marketing material from when the building was for sale, parking could be in the basement of the building.
Together, these redevelopment projects bring a new life to these buildings, which many believed would be demolished. In the near future, these buildings will be symbols of revitalized neighborhoods while also showing us a larger glimpse of the past.
Below are renderings of the project. The 1500 South Grand rendering of by Trivers and the Grandview Arcade/Melba Theater building rendering is by the Lawrence Group from back when they intended to redevelop the building.