When Larry and Regina Waters purchased an industrial warehouse on NE 2 Street, they had no idea that in just a few years, they would be within the vicinity of several high-end urban residential communities such as The Lofts at Maywood Park, The Brownstones at Maywood Park, Central Avenue Villas, The Leslie, Block 42 and The Hill at Bricktown.

“When we bought the building in 2004, across the street from us was nothing but parking lots,” says Waters, who had been scouting the Downtown area for a vacant building to renovate into a loft-style residence. The couple finally found the “perfect spot” at the former Clark building, 16 NE 2, and quickly laid down $350,000 for the two-story, 10,475-square-foot facility. It had been constructed in 1922 by Francis M. Clark, a general contractor who specialized in brickwork in the 1920s.

Others had paid a lot less for the property in recent years, including John and Linda Freeman, who paid $180,000 for the building in January 2002, and Chris and Meg Salyer, who had purchased the property for $65,000 in July 1998.

Doing business as Stillwaters LLC, the Waters family initially planned to renovate the building into mixed-use space, with retail, office, living quarters and their own residence. Local architect Bart Shedeck drew up designs, but after a year and half on the project, he died.

The Waters then brought in another local architect, Bill Gumerson.

“We started all over again, and we’ve changed things along the way,” Waters says.

FULL SPEED
Today, construction on the project is going at full speed. The building, built solely with concrete and brick, now has had steel supports imported throughout, from the basement to the top floor. Originally, an eight-foot ramp at its northwest corner led down to the basement for parking. The ramp is now closed off to make way for an arched entryway.

The basement is being converted into a small parking garage on the west side, where an elevator will be added. A storage area will be constructed, and an apartment is planned for the south end.

“At the north side of the building, you enter on the first floor, and on the south side, the basement is at ground level, so whoever rents the apartment at the back end can have a patio-type area that would come out on the ground floor,” Waters says. 

To the building’s north, at street level, approximately 4,000 square feet of mixed-use space will be available for lease. Tentative plans include a 1,100-square-foot, garden-style apartment toward the back end of the building’s first level. However, Waters says if a large enough tenant would like to take the entire street-level floor, it could be arranged. Lease rates will be $18 per square foot, full-service.

Their plan is to take 7,000 square feet of living space in the building for their own three-bedroom residence on the entire second floor, consisting of 5,500 square feet. A stairway will be built leading from that floor to the rooftop, where an additional 1,500 square feet of living space will be added to finish out their home.

“We’ll eventually have a pool up on the roof, as well, and we’ll have a green roof so that we can have some type of greenery around the pool and outdoor patio,” Waters says. “The second level and rooftop have incredible views of Bricktown and the Downtown Oklahoma City area.”

He says the project has been a dream of his, and hopes for the building to be completed in late December 2010. When the building is complete, an engraved stone with the name “Clark” once again will be placed on its front.

“It was their building, and I want them to have credit for it,” he says.