Plans to renovate the Hotel Grim have expanded to include redevelopment of two nearby vacant buildings, the city of Texarkana, Texas, announced Wednesday.
The former Sears store at 301 Pine St. will be home to about 20 market-rate apartments, and the Harrell Building at 317 N. State Line Ave., formerly known as the Rialto and the Medical Arts Building, will become office space.
The Grim will convert to about 98 affordable family apartments on the upper floors and commercial space on the ground floor. Efficiency, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units will be available.
The original goal was to offer mostly market-rate apartments in the Grim, but "a recently completed market study and additional environmental costs" caused a change in those plans, a city news release stated.
"The study showed that the multi-family rental rates in the Texarkana market were lower than the development team expected, compared to similar markets nationwide. The additional environmental costs were related primarily to the removal of lead-based paint throughout the building," said David Orr, city director of planning and community development.
The overall project cost is estimated at $20 million, with $12 million to $13 million in construction costs. Together, the three buildings' renovations will add about 118 residential units and more than 12,000 square feet of new retail and office space downtown.
The creation of more downtown residences is exciting, said Ina McDowell, executive director of Main Street Texarkana.
"It's great news. Of course we had heard publicly about the Hotel Grim project and how it looked like that was going to move forward, and there have been rumors about it including the Rialto building, but we weren't sure. And now to find that the old Sears building is also a part of this project is just wonderful," she said. "I think we're going to be meeting a real demand for more living space in downtown."
Texas-side Mayor Bob Bruggeman said the trio of projects "will go a long way in revitalizing our historic downtown district."
"These buildings are located within a high-visibility corridor, which will enhance the appearance of the area, as well as stimulate economic activity," he said.
Sale of the Sears and Harrell buildings to developer Jim Sari is expected to close this fall, according to a city news release. Sari is expected to close the sale of the Grim sooner, possibly by June. He was not available for comment on Wednesday.
In January, the Department of Housing and Urban Development approved approved more than $1.4 million in loan guarantees to the city, the final element of the plan to finance the Hotel Grim's renovation. The city also helped secure historic site tax credits and Environmental Protection Agency loans to help with financing.
David J. Potter II owns the Sears building, and its appraised value for 2017 is $18,000, according to Bowie Central Appraisal District records. Owned by Margaret Harrell, the Harrell Building was appraised at $51,421 this year.
Rivergate Properties LLC, formed by Harrell's son, local attorney Billy Harrell, owns the Hotel Grim. The hotel was appraised at $55,660 this year.
Built in 1902, the Rialto was one of the city's first solid brick buildings and one of the first to have electricity, according to local historian Beverly Rowe in her book "Twice Upon A Time, In Texarkana."
Originally an apartment building, the Rialto by 1931 housed various business offices and the medical clinics it was known for by mid-century, when it was renamed the Medical Arts Building. It was renamed the Harrell Building in 1985 or 1986 and still housed its final tenant, an architect's office, as late as 2003.
Sears, Roebuck and Co. built the Pine Street store in about 1940. Noted for its large, ground-floor display windows facing Third and Pine streets, the building served as a Sears showroom and retail store until 1969. McWilliams Stationery Co. then moved in and operated there until 1982.
Named after Texarkana banking, railroad and timber magnate William Rhoads Grim, the hotel opened in 1925, according to a history Rowe wrote for the Gazette in 2006. Construction cost was nearly $1 million, and the 250-room hotel was luxuriously appointed in marble and other elegant decor.
The hotel served the many train passengers who in the course of their travels spent a night or longer in Texarkana. Over the years, many Texarkanians visited the Grim's ballroom and rooftop garden-popular venues for special events-as well as the beauty parlor, barber shop, coffee shop and book store that did business there.
A restaurant called Sue and Carol's Kitchen was the most recent resident of the hotel, which closed in 1990. Since then, only homeless squatters and a group of feral cats have occupied the crumbling building, now widely considered an eyesore.
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