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Feb 09 2012

Latest downtown renovation to include historic ballroom

Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier (Iowa) - by John Molseed

Another renovation of a downtown historic building is nearing completion. The three second-floor apartments on the H.M. Reed Building, 616 1/2 Sycamore St., will likely be complete in March.

The cornerstone of the renovation, the former Brown Derby -- originally the Elks Lodge meeting room -- is at least six months away from completion.

Chuck Orr, who is heading the project along with JSA Development, said he doesn't expect to have any difficulties finding tenants for the living space. Last year, JSA completed a dozen downtown residential spaces and had leases signed for each one before construction was complete.

"Residential space has been very exciting in terms of how fast we fill it," said David Deeds, controller at JSA.

The challenge will be finding consistent and lucrative use for the former Brown Derby ballroom space.

"It's a dream in progress right now," Orr said. "It's worthwhile because we're saving some of our history in a society that basically throws things away."

Other commercial or residential space might have provided a more predictable income, Deeds said.

"The accountant in me would say so," Deeds said. "The challenge with the ballroom is finding a use for it."

However, the space is unlike anything else in town and makes the renovation project unique. Orr said he foresees small wedding parties, dinner theaters and other events.

The success of similar space is a good sign the project will be well received. The renovated Sky Room and Tea Room in the Black's Building has been busy with bookings since Midtown Development announced the venues were open in December.

"We're getting calls everyday," said Vern Nelson, of Midtown Development.

Nelson said there's plenty of room downtown for such spaces and he doesn't expect any trouble booking the venues in both buildings once the project is complete.

"The more we get in the area, the more people will come down and go to one of these places," he said. "It's good for downtown."

The Brown Derby was originally the Elks Lodge meeting room and later became the Sultana Club before becoming the Brown Derby in the 1940s through 1963. The club was a bottle club in the post-Prohibition era. In the 1940s, the Derby opened and closed under various owners. The space still has ornate plaster designs and enough of the original tin ceiling to restore it and reproduce sections that had been lost.

Orr bought the H.M. Reed Building -- also once known as the Stephens Building -- in 1995 and remodeled the top floor and part of the second floor into living space. It was one of the first mixed-use downtown renovation efforts. The first floor is home to Two 4 Tots, a retail clothing and children's store and My Thai Cuisine Thai restaurant. Also on the first floor will be a lobby for the ballroom space. The original tin ceiling will be restored and visitors to the space can get upstairs using an elevator that was installed as part of the renovation.

The total project has an estimated cost of more than $1 million. State and federal historic and gray field tax credits will help reimburse some those costs, Deeds said. The project has qualified for a 20 percent federal tax credit and a 25 percent state historic tax credit.

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