New Home for Artists on Mitchell St.

Developer Ryan Pattee is proposing to buy a city-owned commercial building at 1104 W. Historic Mitchell St. Pattee would rehab the 3,600-square-foot building and lease the space out to artists and micro-entrepreneurs.

Pattee, whose firm leads their own construction, will spend $10,000 to acquire the property and an estimated $122,750 to renovate it. Planned work includes a new roof and updates to the plumbing, electrical, floors, ceiling and heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.

Pattee, through his namesake Pattee Group, has applied a similar model to a number of other buildings in the city. “In all of our commercial projects, we like to bring art or music in,” he said. The developer completed a project on W. National Ave. in Clarke Square in 2017 and has nearly completed the renovation of a 111-year-old commercial building at 4716 W. Vliet St. that will house the West End Conservatory at the east end of Washington Heights.

Pattee is in the process of rehabbing a property at 211 W. Florida St. in Walker’s Point, which will be occupied by artist Reggie Baylor. The developer also owns a number of residential rental units in the city.

The proposal to rent small spaces to artists or entrepreneurs has the support of area Alderman Jose G. Perez, who said a space for the area’s many street artists has been long been sought.

Pattee Group junior partner Brennan Balistrieri said the group has offered space in the building at no charge to non-profit arts group Artists Working in Education and hopes to collaborate with area colleges and universities to attract young artists and entrepreneurs.

The city acquired the building in July 2015 through property tax foreclosure. Pattee will acquire the building as-is and under the terms of sale cannot convert the building to tax-exempt status.

The proposal was unanimously approved Tuesday morning by the Common Council’s Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee. Exterior alterations will require approval from the city’s Historic Preservation Commission because the property is within the boundaries of the city’s Mitchell Street Historic District. The building was completed in 1930 and has housed a variety of retail uses throughout its life, including most recently a sporting goods store.

The city had approved a sale of the building in early 2016 to Raquel Perez, who owned and operated the adjacent Kiddy Land store at 1130 W. Historic Mitchell St. Perez did not close on the transaction, and the store is now closed. Perez had agreed to pay $25,000 for the property and was proposing to do $110,000 in repairs.

Other Land Sales

Pattee’s proposed acquisition wasn’t the only sale authorized by the council committee Tuesday morning.

• Developer and property manager James Metz will acquire the 4,500-square-foot structure at 3721 W. Villard Ave. for $8,000. Metz told the committee he manages 25 residential properties in the city, as well as the adjacent building occupied by a day care. After spending $75,000 renovating the structure, Metz proposes to use a portion of the building, originally built in 1900, for his office and lease the two apartments in the building as market-rate units.
• Youssef “Joe” Berrada will acquire the three-story, 12-unit apartment building at 2453 W. Capitol Dr. for $7,500. Berrada told the committee his firm will spend $300,000 renovating the structure, which Department of City Development representative Dwayne Edwards says is heavily fire damaged. Berrada says his firm has 8,000 units nationwide and owns a number of nearby buildings. As noted by Alderman Russell W. Stamper, II, many of Berrada’s properties can be identified by the “rocks” placed out front. Because of the limited setback on this site, Berrada said he may not have them installed along W. Capitol Dr. Area Alderman Khalif Rainey said “this building has been an eyesore for quite some time,” and that he looks forward to it being renovated.
• Above and Beyond Transporation will acquire the city-owned parking lot at 6369 N. 46th St. for $4,000. The 9,583-square-foot lot will be used by the childcare transportation firm primarily for parking for their adjacent office at 4618 W. Woolworth Ave. The firm is owned and managed by Justin J. Jenkins and Melvin L. Weakley II. Located in the city’s Graceland neighborhood, the city acquired the site in 2014 through property tax foreclosure.

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