New Life Breathed Into Four Stories Project
Janaury 9, 2002 By David Liscio

City development officials are moving forward with a plan that would transform the dilapidated Four Stories building at the corner of Washington and Broad streets into an artisan work center, create additional parking at two adjacent sites by demolishing an auto repair garage, and solidify an entire city block into a downtown arts center and cultural center.

A cardboard sing on the front door of Broad Street Auto Repair is a harbinger that things are about to change in the neighborhood.

According to City Development Director Stephen Harausz, the Canadian company that owns the auto repair building and property has agreed to sell it for about $40,000.
Getting possession of that property was a key step. That will give us the parking we need to develop the Four Stories site.

We probably walked 30 different interested parties through the building over the past year, but every time it come down to a lack of parking," he said.

The plan is financially fueled by a $750,000 federal grant that was attached to the former Tapley building that was about to be turned into artist lofts when it burned two years ago.
The funding will be transferred to the 11,000-square-foot Four Stories building, but the use must remain unchanged.

"The auto repair business isn't being they've found new quarters and they're moving out of the downtown," said Harausz, noting that the purchase-and-sale agreement has been drafted and the owners in British Columbia assured that no liability is attached related to contaminated soil.

The city will use a mix of federal Brownfields Program funds and Community Development Department monies to pay for an environmental cleanup, which would include removing unhealthy soil from the 2,800 square-foot lot.

"We're looking at a tentative timetable to close the deal in April," Harausz said. "We plan to redevelop the building as an artisan work center, which is what we're required to do because if we use federal money we can't just turn around and sell the property. An artisan work center is wide open to definition.

It can be something like what's going on at the Lydia Pinkham building, which has studios for photographers, jewelry makers, people making Christmas ornaments."
The $750,000 was provided by the U.S. Economic Development Administration in Washington, D.C., an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Some investors appreciative of the Four Stories' Flat Iron architectural style were still unable to make the numbers work, mostly because the triangular configuration of each floor requires a more expensive per-foot build-out cost. Estimates ranged from $600,000 to $800,000, or about $150 per square foot, not including replacement of the building's elevator, which alone could cost $250,000.

As a result, the city decided to transfer the Tapley funds and become the landlord.
"This is a value-added project for that block," said Harausz, adding that while the demolished garage will make way for parking, a partnership between the city and Lynn Arts will further expand the number of available spaces. "Another lot behind de Lynn Arts is for sale. The city will put in half and Lynn Arts will own half."

Lynn Arts, which includes two art galleries at 25 Exchange St. in Central Square, is bordered on one side by a vacant corner lot, owned by Don Baker Realty, which separated it from the Lynn Heritage Park Visitors' Center on Lower Union Street.

Yet another piece of the redevelopment puzzle would acquire that corner lot and connect it to the visitor center's park.

"If we are successful in making that corner lot a part of the overall redevelopment of the block, we will have strengthened the entire neighborhood. We're also completing the installation of new brick sidewalks and antique lighting in Central Square, so it's all coming together," Harausz said.

The red brick Four Stories building, considered both a landmark and a gateway structure, was originally named the Plumstead building.

Erected in 1890 at 616 Washington St., it was once home to the Plumstead Harness Co., selling harness and stable goods. It later became a machine shop, Knowlton's Tool and Die, and after that a submarine sandwich shop.

In 1983, the property had a $175,000 facelift when owners Joseph Cataldo and James Mesisklis established the Four Stories restaurant.

City officials warned the property was marked for an eminent domain taking to make way for the planned widening for Washington Street. The latter project was delayed and the building was spared.

The restaurateurs filed for bankruptcy in 1986. Subsequent owners lost tile through foreclosure due to non-payment of taxes, leaving the city as landlord since 1997.
Should the latest revitalization plan succeed, the office building at the corner of Spring and Exchange streets would remain the only neglected structure in the entire block