The Lowdown - what's happening downtown and on Baseline
What's in the works
There are a few things going on that I thought you might find interesting.
THE STARKEY BUILDING RENOVATION
The city owned Starkey building to the north of Festival Plaza is being renovated. This will allow the city to use it for community events and to offer it for private functions too. The renovation is expected to be complete by summer. Since this is such a prominent building I snagged the following information from a presentation to the city council by our Arts & Cultural Resources Director Rachel Hanson to share with you.
“Background Information
The Starkey Building, built in the early 1900’s, is a 1,200 square foot, single-story residential-style structure. There have been at least five owners, and numerous changes and renovations, over the years. In 1984, the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce purchased the building and converted it into office space. The City purchased the Starkey Building from the Lafayette Chamber in 2022 for use as a community hub for public events. Due to disrepair, the building has primarily been used for storage for the past several years and has housed a single exterior public restroom maintained by the City. The building needs significant renovations to function as a safe and usable civic space for community members.”
“This property is not on any Historic Registry. The unique historic elements of the building will be included in the renovation. Decorative elements of the entry porch and exterior trims will be preserved or replicated. The interior space will be opened with internal modifications while keeping the existing roof structure. The character of the porch will be maintained while adding a ramp and creating a welcoming, accessible entry door. The project focuses on interior renovation, energy efficiency upgrades, and ADA accessibility, along with some cosmetic and modest site improvements.”
“The plan for the Starkey Building includes a full renovation of 1,150 square feet of interior space, structural modifications to underpin foundations, shoring of existing structure to execute interior framed wall demolition, enhanced support structure at roof by implementing steel beams. All new finishes and construction systems will be installed in the interior spaces. Additional modifications will be made to support ADA accessibility and multi-purpose useability for City staff and residents alike. The new interior design will include a main multi- use flexible space, activity area, one interior single-use ADA restroom, an exterior public ADA restroom, a storage room, and a workroom. The primary gathering space includes an open floor plan, cleanable floors, flip-top nesting tables, movable chairs, and a monitor for digital presentations. There will be storage cubbies for people attending events. A functional work sink and counter space will allow for art supply set up and clean up or as a prep area for snacks or materials for meetings, workshops, or retreats.”
BEE’S THAI KITCHEN
Bee’s Thai Kitchen is moving from a food truck occasionally found at Odd 13 to a brick and mortar location at 418 East Simpson Street.
760 W. BASELINE
The Lafayette Urban Renewal Authority (LURA) purchased this property in 2020 at the southwest corner of Carr and Baseline for $330,000 when Roger Caruso was the executive director. The idea was to create a park or gathering place possibly with an artistic focus. But LURA is not in the maintaining parks business and after purchasing the property the city said sorry we can’t do it, so the idea never came to fruition. Roger moved on to other ventures (insert happy dance from me here) and Brigid Keating was hired to take over his duties as economic development director and executive director of LURA.
With Director Keating’s guidance LURA decided the property should be sold. But since it’s owned by a government entity there are requirements about the process. It had to go out for bids via an Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) and Director Keating first had to create a process for doing so. This does gives LURA more control over what eventually happens to the property.
Finally the process has moved along to the point where three proposals were received. A subcommittee was formed to assess the proposals and I thought some of you might be interested in seeing how this has unfolded. The subcommittee included LURA Commissioners Luke Arrington and Kate Williams, Long Range Planning Manager Philip Kleiser, and LURA Executive Director Keating. Once more I snagged screenshots to share with you, this time from the presentation Director Keating gave to LURA.
Some information from Lafayette resident Ja’mal Gilmore was included in the presentation. Check out his current location Brooklyn Barber Academy.
Want to offer more support? Awesome!
I really like the proposal for the salon and barber shop with retail space. Local owner who has experience and other successful similar ventures, one story building contributes to our small town feel, and it seems like they have their plan together with the right people. Looking forward to seeing this project become part of our downtown.
Thanks for the very informative update. I like proposal 3 for 760 Baseline. Local and a good business opportunity.