Have you done anything like this before?

In this capacity, no. My husband and I have ownership in a construction business that specializes in concrete work. We’ve done many projects in development, so we have an understanding of the process works. Being said, that does not make us experts. We’ve reached out to designer, Meredith Rutland, and contractor, Jess Lindsey, whom both have experience specifically in historic building development. With the little bit of knowledge my husband and I have as well as the team that we have to do this, I have full confidence and excitement of how this project will come together.

Many others with experience have reached out to me to say that they are willing to help in any way and for that I am grateful. Being willing to learn from others is important in a project like this. I don’t want to pretend like I’m trying to reinvent the wheel with this task. 

Have you decided what businesses will be in the building?

I’ll do my best to share with you what will be in the building without giving away too many details. I don’t want to lose the suspense of the final reveal! In short, yes, we have business plans for all floors of the building.

Give me an idea floor by floor what will be developed there.

On the first floor, simply put, will be split into two spaces housing a cafe and boutique. I think the community will really enjoy the vision and vibe we have for both of these spaces. I can share that it will be unique to Tifton, offering something a little bit different and not taking away from other similar businesses in the area. 

The second floor has beautiful offices that are original to the building. There are cosmetic updates that need to happen here, but over-all, we have really good bones to work with. There are 13, beautiful, natural light-filled offices that will be available for rent.

On the third floor, we’re going to create an elegant event space available for rent for all kinds of gatherings. 

In the future, we’d like to make the basement available for lease. My vision would be for a fine dining venue to house the space. If we can find the right tenant, we’re going to make it happen. 

To me, what is so special about this project is that we’re going to recreate each floor of this building making it available for the public to experience. You won’t have to drive by wondering what goes on above the first floor, you can come to be a part of it for yourself. 

How will you deal with parking? Is it adequate?

Parking is limited directly at the property, but the Cato Knight Memorial parking is conveniently less than a block away. This will be optimal for anyone that would be visiting or participating at an event happening in the 3rd floor venue area. 

What is your renovation schedule and when will you open?

We have closed on the purchase of the building, so the next steps that we will be working through is the tentative floor plans. We will be participating in the historic tax credit programs which will help us financially with the expenses of renovations. The historic tax credit programs require that the plans for renovation be submitted for local, state, and federal approval.

This process is anticipated to last a few months, so if it looks quiet around the building, thats why. After approval, we can start on renovations. We would like to start updating the second and third floors so that we could have them operating as soon as possible. Lastly we would focus in on the first floor and basement, which is where the most work is going to be done. 

We are so excited this project is coming to life. What is even better is to see the interest that the community has seeing the project all the way through.