After a fast start, the Wellman Building has continued to see strong interest in the units that it has available to rent.
Before the building even celebrated its grand opening, a quarter of the apartments had been spoken for. Since then, that number has grown with a majority of the building now occupied. The building, which had sat vacant since 1985, underwent a $7.4 million renovation that preserved the look and design of the building while at the same time creating the unique apartments that are now housed inside.
"We started leasing in July, there are a total of 44 units in the building and at the present time we have 36 units leased," said Joe Jacobi, property manager from Ontario Specialty Contracting Inc. "If it keeps going, by spring, we won't have any units left to lease."
Article Photos
The Wellman Building, pictured above, is nearly full less than a year after its renovation was finished.
P-J?photo by Ryan Atkins
The interest that the developers have seen extends beyond the apartments and into the available commercial spaces as well. According to Jacobi, there are ongoing talks with several commercial users who are in the process of being qualified for space in the building.
"I suspect that by April 1, 2013, all of those commercial areas will be taken," said Jacobi.
John Merino, CEO of the Gebbie Foundation, which has an office space located in the building sees the favorable reception of the building as a good omen for the downtown area.
"The apartments are doing wonderful. It's a great collection of folks here," said Merino. "It's really working well and it's exceeded everyone's expectations. We thought it was going to take 18 months before the apartments were all rented, but here we are after four months and they have a large percentage of the units spoken for. This a good omen for downtown development and it should make other developers perk up and look at Jamestown."
According to Jacobi, everything is going very well and the ownership is happy with the way that the building has been received in Jamestown.
"With this kind of absorption this quickly in the marketplace, it may cause not only our company, but other companies to take notice and start working on some more projects in the area," said Jacobi.