What's Happening in Lancaster, OH…

The Essex, a historic structure in downtown Lancaster, has been given a new lease on life.

Tom Fortin, a Columbus-based developer, plans to renovate the building into a mixed-use structure, with retail space on the ground floor, and 49 lofts on the floors above. Fortin expects to spend about $4m on the project.

Fortin intends to keep as many of the original architectural details of the building, which was built in 1910, as intact as he can. To that end, he says the lofts will have exposed brick walls, tall windows, 12-foot ceilings, and hardwood floors.

The lofts will also be spacious, with the smallest, a one-bedroom unit, coming in at slightly more than 1,000 square feet. There will also be some two-bedroom, two-story lofts of about 1,800 square feet. The average loft will be about 1,500 square feet. Each of them will have two parking spaces assigned, and the rents will run from $595 to $895.

Fortin says he hopes to have the Essex ready for its first occupants by Fall 2016, and adds that he calls the building the ‘Hope Diamond of Lancaster’, for its beauty.

Developers like Fortin often work with brochure printers to create a booklet of floor plans for potential residents to examine, encouraging them to consider upcoming developments when choosing a new home.