Roger That. It was an interesting place. I went twice.

Walker's Radiator on Marshall. I love those old Neon Signs.



.

(03-03-2010 05:56 PM)TJT Wrote:  

I was just in there last week before the Southern Miss game. First time since I was in the 6th grade and that was well, a long time ago.

The Washburn, a landmark building under renovation at 60 S. Main, offers front-row seats to Memphis history along with classic architectural touches. The building's $7.8 million conversion into 42 apartments and 4,500 square feet of commercial space should be completed by Feb.1, developer Andrew Crosby said. "I think it's the prettiest building on Main Street," says Andrew Crosby of The Washburn's Romanesque architectural influences. Built in the 1880s in two parts as the Lemmon and Gale buildings, and more recently known as the Lawrence Building, the five-story edifice overlooks Downtown alleys associated with momentous events of the 19th and 20th centuries. Washburn's Escape Alley runs along the building's north side, separating it from the SunTrust Bank building, and November 6th Street is to the east. "I was looking for something historic, and it's a very interesting story," Crosby said. "I think it's the prettiest building on Main Street."

Downtown Developers LLC bought the building for $635,000 in 2003 with the idea of preserving a piece of history and getting in on the Downtown residential boom, said Crosby, general partner. Crosby weighed the options and went with apartments, a fortunate choice given tumbling demand for condos and other owner-occupied housing after the recession hit. Naylor Construction began renovation last December, gutting an interior that included rickety wood stairs and a massive freight elevator. The design by architect Jeff Blackledge retained ceilings as high as 18 feet, a rooftop skylight and exposed timbers.Crosby said apartments have been built to facilitate easy conversion to condominiums after five years.

The previous owner, National Bank of Commerce, used it for records storage. Crosby said a two-ton, 100-year-old Diebold safe is being restored at the National Ornamental Metal Museum for the apartment lobby.Preservation of the Main Street faade and other architectural details qualified the project for historic preservation tax credits. Crye-Leike Realtors is preleasing apartments in The Washburn. Crosby said Wilkes & McHugh, a law firm, has leased most of the first-floor commercial, and discussions are under way with an investment firm about the rest.Crosby recently won Center City Development Corp. approval to divert fees from the project's tax freeze toward about $83,000 in improvements to the city-owned alleys, including curbs, gutters, sidewalks and lighting.

Union Gen. Cadwallader Colden Washburn fled through the alley that bears his name, wearing only his nightshirt, when Confederate Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry raided Union-occupied Downtown on Aug. 21, 1864. Washburn was commander of the military district of Western Tennessee. The past and future Wisconsin congressman went on after the war to cofound General Mills and serve as governor of the Badger State.

November 6th Street commemorates a 1934 vote to bring Tennessee Valley Authority electricity to the city through a publicly owned electric utility. "Memphis: An Architectural Guide" lists 60 S. Main as "one of several good commercial Romanesque buildings in town." Similar to, but plainer than the Lowenstein Building at Jefferson and Main, the building is topped by "a bit of fortress architecture unexpectedly erupting on Main Street." "The building is a really fine example of our treasure of historical buildings Downtown," said Center City Commission president Jeff Sanford. "The restoration that is under way is doing justice to its historic value." The preleasing of commercial space is a big plus. "Renting ground-floor retail space is difficult anywhere in the city, but with a very substantial vacancy rate along the (Main Street) mall, this is very welcome news, particularly in this economy," Sanford added. Crosby, 38, is a Memphis University School and Furman University graduate with a degree in philosophy. He worked for CNN, founded a public relations firm in Washington and operates a contracting business that builds for the State Department and U.S. embassies abroad. Crosby and Huey Holden are partners in Downtown Developers LLC. Limited liability investors are Culti Partners LLC and Florence McGowan.

The Washburn - Address: 60 S. Main - Monthly rents: From $850 for a 748-square-foot unit to $1,450 for a 1,295-square-foot unit
Amenities: Rooftop deck, garage parking, elevator access, business center, washer and dryer in each unit, stainless steel appliances, high ceilings, exposed brick. Soundproofing: Extra layers of insulation, sound insulation board, concrete, wallboard. Move-in: Tentatively scheduled for Feb. 1. Web site: thewashburn.com

(05-20-2010 10:23 AM)Cletus Wrote:  
The Washburn, a landmark building under renovation at 60 S. Main, offers front-row seats to Memphis history along with classic architectural touches. The building's $7.8 million conversion into 42 apartments and 4,500 square feet of commercial space should be completed by Feb.1, developer Andrew Crosby said. "I think it's the prettiest building on Main Street," says Andrew Crosby of The Washburn's Romanesque architectural influences. Built in the 1880s in two parts as the Lemmon and Gale buildings, and more recently known as the Lawrence Building, the five-story edifice overlooks Downtown alleys associated with momentous events of the 19th and 20th centuries. Washburn's Escape Alley runs along the building's north side, separating it from the SunTrust Bank building, and November 6th Street is to the east. "I was looking for something historic, and it's a very interesting story," Crosby said. "I think it's the prettiest building on Main Street."

Downtown Developers LLC bought the building for $635,000 in 2003 with the idea of preserving a piece of history and getting in on the Downtown residential boom, said Crosby, general partner. Crosby weighed the options and went with apartments, a fortunate choice given tumbling demand for condos and other owner-occupied housing after the recession hit. Naylor Construction began renovation last December, gutting an interior that included rickety wood stairs and a massive freight elevator. The design by architect Jeff Blackledge retained ceilings as high as 18 feet, a rooftop skylight and exposed timbers.Crosby said apartments have been built to facilitate easy conversion to condominiums after five years.

The previous owner, National Bank of Commerce, used it for records storage. Crosby said a two-ton, 100-year-old Diebold safe is being restored at the National Ornamental Metal Museum for the apartment lobby.Preservation of the Main Street faade and other architectural details qualified the project for historic preservation tax credits. Crye-Leike Realtors is preleasing apartments in The Washburn. Crosby said Wilkes & McHugh, a law firm, has leased most of the first-floor commercial, and discussions are under way with an investment firm about the rest.Crosby recently won Center City Development Corp. approval to divert fees from the project's tax freeze toward about $83,000 in improvements to the city-owned alleys, including curbs, gutters, sidewalks and lighting.

Union Gen. Cadwallader Colden Washburn fled through the alley that bears his name, wearing only his nightshirt, when Confederate Nathan Bedford Forrest's cavalry raided Union-occupied Downtown on Aug. 21, 1864. Washburn was commander of the military district of Western Tennessee. The past and future Wisconsin congressman went on after the war to cofound General Mills and serve as governor of the Badger State.

November 6th Street commemorates a 1934 vote to bring Tennessee Valley Authority electricity to the city through a publicly owned electric utility. "Memphis: An Architectural Guide" lists 60 S. Main as "one of several good commercial Romanesque buildings in town." Similar to, but plainer than the Lowenstein Building at Jefferson and Main, the building is topped by "a bit of fortress architecture unexpectedly erupting on Main Street." "The building is a really fine example of our treasure of historical buildings Downtown," said Center City Commission president Jeff Sanford. "The restoration that is under way is doing justice to its historic value." The preleasing of commercial space is a big plus. "Renting ground-floor retail space is difficult anywhere in the city, but with a very substantial vacancy rate along the (Main Street) mall, this is very welcome news, particularly in this economy," Sanford added. Crosby, 38, is a Memphis University School and Furman University graduate with a degree in philosophy. He worked for CNN, founded a public relations firm in Washington and operates a contracting business that builds for the State Department and U.S. embassies abroad. Crosby and Huey Holden are partners in Downtown Developers LLC. Limited liability investors are Culti Partners LLC and Florence McGowan.

The Washburn - Address: 60 S. Main - Monthly rents: From $850 for a 748-square-foot unit to $1,450 for a 1,295-square-foot unit
Amenities: Rooftop deck, garage parking, elevator access, business center, washer and dryer in each unit, stainless steel appliances, high ceilings, exposed brick. Soundproofing: Extra layers of insulation, sound insulation board, concrete, wallboard. Move-in: Tentatively scheduled for Feb. 1. Web site: thewashburn.com

I've always thought that was one of the neatest buildings

The Sterick Building and Sears Crosstown have always greatly intrigued me.

(05-20-2010 11:59 PM)supertiger Wrote:  The Sterick Building and Sears Crosstown have always greatly intrigued me.

Those are the exact two that I have always looked to as well.

Antebellum Memphis home occupied by the same family for 150 years.

Annesdale, Mansion home of Colonel Robert Bogardus Snowden, Built about 1858-61, 1325 Lamar Avenue, Memphis, Shelby County, TN - Circa 1933

Italianate architecture, hand-made bricks, beautiful & level HW & marble floors, tall ceilings, handsome paneling, elaborate painted ceilings & carved plaster, original light fixtures & mantles.

For sale: $1,200,000

1.2 is actually a good price for such a house. I wonder how much the Williams house in Savannah would go for...

(05-21-2010 11:21 AM)neillis Wrote:  1.2 is actually a good price for such a house. I wonder how much the Williams house in Savannah would go for...

The area around the house has gone downhill.

(05-21-2010 03:09 PM)supertiger Wrote:  

(05-21-2010 11:21 AM)neillis Wrote:  1.2 is actually a good price for such a house. I wonder how much the Williams house in Savannah would go for...

The area around the house has gone downhill.

That's what I was thinking.

where is that house above located?


many great memories in this thread. I miss the Coliseum, the Pippen, Skateland Summer Ave. and maybe most of all, the Public Eye. Many good lunches w/ my dad there hitting the buffet. My grandma retired after many years from Sears Crosstown and I can remember picking her up from work sometimes as a kid.

(05-21-2010 06:46 PM)MemphisTiger15 Wrote:  where is that house above located?


many great memories in this thread. I miss the Coliseum, the Pippen, Skateland Summer Ave. and maybe most of all, the Public Eye. Many good lunches w/ my dad there hitting the buffet. My grandma retired after many years from Sears Crosstown and I can remember picking her up from work sometimes as a kid.

The Annesdale Mansion is on the south side of Lamar, not far from where Midtown 240 crosses over Lamar and close to where Central dead-ends into Lamar (by the University Club).

I went to an estate sale back in the fall there. One of the few estate sales I've ever been to where they charged admission.

If it were in a better neighborhood, it would be WELL worth the price...then again, it wouldn't be the price it is in a better neighborhood.

And, yes, I know there are VERY nice neighborhoods just a stone's throw from that house, but Lamar might as well be Baghdad or Beirut.

A couple of my haunts as a kid of the '80s...

(05-21-2010 09:57 PM)uofmbrad Wrote:  

(05-21-2010 06:46 PM)MemphisTiger15 Wrote:  where is that house above located?


many great memories in this thread. I miss the Coliseum, the Pippen, Skateland Summer Ave. and maybe most of all, the Public Eye. Many good lunches w/ my dad there hitting the buffet. My grandma retired after many years from Sears Crosstown and I can remember picking her up from work sometimes as a kid.

The Annesdale Mansion is on the south side of Lamar, not far from where Midtown 240 crosses over Lamar and close to where Central dead-ends into Lamar (by the University Club).

I went to an estate sale back in the fall there. One of the few estate sales I've ever been to where they charged admission.

If it were in a better neighborhood, it would be WELL worth the price...then again, it wouldn't be the price it is in a better neighborhood.

And, yes, I know there are VERY nice neighborhoods just a stone's throw from that house, but Lamar might as well be Baghdad or Beirut.

I doubt such hyperbolic claims would be made by those who have been in Baghdad or Beirut, lol.

I remember when Beirut was a tourist attraction. Such a tragedy that its name has been dragged through such atrocities...