The money will be used “to take the apartments to a higher level,” said Mallory Greenham, a small-business development specialist for the city. “So there will be an additional eight really nice, market-rate residential units there.”
Greg Beckman, one of the owners, said the upgraded apartments will have “some higher-end finishes, granite countertops, open spaces.” They should be ready for occupancy this fall, he said.
Beckman and his wife Lucy Beckman, both Hamilton natives, are in partnership on the project with Josh Hershner. They bought those buildings and the one between them last summer for about $750,000.
The three made the purchase because of “all the future potential with the Hamilton downtown area and Spooky Nook opening up, and the revitalization that’s going on in the Hamilton area,” Beckman said.
The apartments are among dozens that either recently have become available in Hamilton’s downtown and Main Street areas in recent months, or that are planned. Among the others that have opened are 102 apartments at The Marcum complex of apartments and shops; 12 above the Village Parlor Ice Cream Shop at 302 Main St.; six above the soon-to-open Billy Yanks bar and restaurant; and 75-80 planned for the 300 block of Main St.
Also, at the Third + Dayton building, once occupied by Ohio Casualty, other higher-end apartments are available.
Many of the investments in apartments in apartments and businesses are happening in anticipation of the opening of Spooky Nook Sports Champion Mill, scheduled for the end of this year.
“When it’s all said and done, we’ll probably have about $1.2 million in the whole project,” Beckman said.
At 107 Main, they are receiving a matching grant of $20,000 for each of four units. At 117 Main, the grant is $18,427 for each of another four.
“It’s definitely going to be an entertainment area,” Beckman said of Main. “It seems to me that it’s going to be a place that somebody’s going to want to live.”
He hopes to paint the buildings with eye-catching colors, but thinks he may face resistance because they are in a historic district.
“If we can get the color changes that we want, people are going to see significant changes on the outside, and surely notice something’s taking place,” he said.
The Beckmans have been in business about 25 years, and among their various companies own more than 100 housing units. The apartments to be upgraded now are empty.
“Some of the tenants that were there, we’ve moved into other homes as the came available that we have, so as not to displace anyone,” Beckman said.
“People are just chomping at the bit to see what’s next, and a lot of people are excited about the direction of Hamilton right now.”
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