WATERLOO — A developer has converted a long-vacant Waterloo hotel dating to 1913 into eight residential lofts.
The second and third floors of the historic hotel have been transformed into 800-square-foot efficiency and 1,200-square-foot two-bedroom units, with the ground floor open for retail or office use, said Jim Walsh, a developer with JSA development.
Three of the residential units have already been leased.
Walsh said that when he bought the building about six or seven years ago, he saw the potential to renovate it and create an apartment space. It had previously been on the verge of demolition, but Walsh said the structure was sturdy enough to save. He said the project cost about $2 million, with federal and state historical tax credits offsetting up to 45 percent of the cost.
David Deeds, controller for the development company, said the building had been vacant for more than 35 years before it re-opened Thursday. He said many of the building’s original features have been preserved, including tin ceilings and wood floors, and others have been refurbished.
“It will seem like you’re in the hotel at the time it was done,” Deeds said. “...This building has a lot of its original historic fabric left, and we were able to keep and reuse large parts of it.”