Developer looks to the past for block's future

The 300 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard is getting a new life by taking a cue from the past.

“Anything that we found that we were able to save and ultimately highlight, we certainly wanted to,” said Lindsay Nevin, president of Flyway, a Charleston, S.C.-based restoration, development and real estate company, which acquired all but one of the spaces on the block in 2016 for just over $4 million.

Nevin said the development, which includes about 65,000 square feet spread over three floors, is aimed at local retail businesses and restaurants, which would be on the street level. The second and third floors will be leased as office spaces. A dedicated parking lot adjacent to the block will provide off street parking for users.

“The mix of uses is still very important to us, especially the retail,” Nevin said.

“We’re trying to get food and beverage groups, fitness groups and general retail groups to occupy the ground floor, so ultimately those uses become amenities to the office users on the second and third floors.”

To bring all the spaces together so that the block operates as one, crews, which began working on the block in 2017, installed elevators and constructed a hallway that connects the inner workings of the units in the center of the building on each floor.

“We basically have a spine that runs through the center of the block now,” Nevin said of the hallway.

Uncovering the past

Flyway partnered with Brooks Construction Group and architectural firm Sottile & Sottile to bring the vision to life. The team worked with the Savannah Historic District Board of Review on several aspects of the project, including replacing or restoring the more than 160 windows located around the block.

The northern corner of the block, which for nearly 60 years housed Thrifty Supply Center before it closed in 2015, saw the biggest transformation on the ground floor, Nevin said.

“All of this was concrete blocks and we restored it to being historically accurate to what was here at some point in time in the past,” he said of the building’s facade, which now features two recessed entryways as it did when Tenenbaum’s nickel and dime store operated there during the 1940s.

At just over 6,000 square feet, it’s the largest space available and is being marketed as a restaurant.

Another glimpse of the past is on display above the entrance to the unit just south of the old Thrifty space where a decades-old sign for Eisenman’s Men’s and Ladies’ Wear was uncovered. On the southside of the development along Jones Street, a pair of heavy metal doors that advertise Thrifty's inventory of kitchen cabinets, floor coverings and other supplies have been preserved and incorporated around a new entryway.

“It’s always interesting what you find when you start digging in these structures,” Nevin said.

“The preservation associated with of any of the historical pieces we found was very important to us.”

The units

Aside from the former Thrifty space, nine other spaces make up the ground floor. One of the units has already been leased and the others will be available starting around Sept. 1, Nevin said.

Most of the units average about 2,500 square feet and can be customized to fit the needs of individual tenants.

“I really liked it because it was storefront and I could also have some time to build into it as I was establishing myself in the area,” said optometrist Erika Morrow, who opened ForSight Unique Eye Care & Eye Wear at 350 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., earlier this month, becoming the development’s first tenant.

The off-street parking and restored historical components of the development also played an important role in the decision to open her practice on the block, Morrow said.

“I’m super excited because they were able to keep a lot of the historical touches, which was so important when I was picking a spot,” she said.

"And they’re revitalizing an area that hasn’t had a lot of love and attention and it’s brought so much attention to the area, people are just walking in and coming by, so it has me really excited.”

The office spaces on the second and third floors, many of which had been used as storage or left to deteriorate over the years, have been restored to include the original wood flooring and exposed brick and plaster.

“This would work really well for anyone that wants an open work space, whether its a tech company or something similar,” Nevin said of the second and third floor floor spaces.

The office spaces also have access to common break areas with small kitchenettes along with bathrooms that feature countertops and ceilings made from reclaimed wood from the development. The offices will also have access to a rooftop area.

“We’ll have tables, chairs and furniture out here, so if they want to come out and take a break or work or have a meeting or lunch this area is specific to all the second and third floor office tenants,” Nevin said, adding that another nearby portion of the rooftop will be available for the tenant who occupies the former Thrifty space on the ground floor.

A unique opportunity

The block restoration is the second Savannah project for Nevin, who founded Flyway in 2008. Their first project, Dixon Park, which is located at the corner of Henry and East Broad streets, was completed in 2017 and included new construction, renovations of existing buildings into apartments, as well as one commercial space.

The company is no stranger to expansive projects, having been involved in multiple developments in Charleston, including partial renovation of the old city jail and converting an old Exxon gas station into a barbecue joint, but for the westside Savannah project Nevin said the sheer volume of work was the most daunting task.

“It’s 10 separate addresses and effectively 10 separate historic preservation (projects),” he said.

Nevin said over the years the block had been under contract several times and in jeopardy of partial demolition, but a preservationist at heart, he approached the project in a different way.

“When I came in and toured the block, there was still so much historic value and significance associated with the project and those are the pieces that we wanted to save and ultimately highlight,” he said.

“The ability to have a very unique asset such as this block just doesn’t come around very often.”

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