Connelly team brings new life to 4th & Jackson building

To some, Connelly seems to be restoring downtown Sioux City one building at a time.

After renovating the nearby United Center building into apartment lofts and business space, saving the now-restored Williges Building from the wrecking ball and redeveloping the historic Evans Block for the Heidman Law Form, Connelly, president of Connelly Tiehen & Sons, is undertaking a multi-million-dollar renovation of the 4th & Jackson building.

Other downtown redevelopment projects by Connelly are the historic Evans Block, housing Heidman Law Form

The project involves construction of up to 18 upscale condominium lofts on the fourth, fifth and sixth floors -- purchase lofts on the top two floors, rental lofts on the fourth floor -- and conversion of the office space on the lower floors into Class A professional space.

One "kind of cool thing" about the 40-year-old building, Connelly noted, was it originally didn't have a ground floor. The first floor was strictly drive-through space for the Savings and Loan, with money tubes shooting receipts and such to the second floor S&L. The money chutes are still visible, though later remodeling added office space to the first floor.

Connelly and his crew have had office space in the Stifel Nicolaus building for several years, which worked well when starting the nearby United Center project in 2005.

"It's good to have an office here close to a big project. And then the condo response and the corporate loft response over there spurred us into this project. That building's 100 percent occupied," Connelly said. "Once that project got momentum, it filled up quickly."

This prompted Chris Bogenrief, president of United Commercial, to point out in mid-February that there was still one, 1,000-square-foot office condo left to sell in the United Center. Bogenrief is marketing the professional office space in both buildings.

"I think Bart is a unique gift to Sioux City because we have these great buildings downtown and he's kind of been the one who's gone in and refurbished them," said Kevin McManamy, vice president of United Real Estate Solutions which is marketing the 4th & Jackson lofts for sale. "He always says this one's easier (than the United Center) because you don't have to worry about posts and beams and that sort of thing. it's a newer constuction style and it was pretty easy to work around."

But as a 40-year-old building, it still needs a lot of work, especially noticeable when it comes to updating the 1970s decor, most prominently displayed in the first-floor lobby, he said.

McManamy expects the demand for the 4th and Jackson lofts to equal that of the United Center, pointing to the design of the building which is wrapped in glass and offers a great view from the upper floors of downtown and the Missouri River. "This, as opposed to the United Center, is much more about the view. The United Center was much more about the brick and the beams," he said.

There will be 12 purchased loft units each on the fifth and sixth floors at 4th Jackson and another 12 rental loft units on the fourth floor, he pointed out. And there will be a small fitness center on the fourth floor for all residents. Some of the fourth-floor units will be smaller, the smallest being 753 square feet. 

The highest-priced unit on the sixth floor will sell for $219,000. Prices start at $159,950. And those sixth-floor units should be done in March, McManamy said

Bogenrief said the rental units on the fourth floor will range from $1,050 to $1,450 a month for a 10-year lease, and that includes everything from utilities to a parking spot on the adjacent ramp, a washer and dryer. "The only thing people have to pay for is cable and Internet," he said.

Work on the building renovation will be continuous and the project should be completed by the end of 2012, Connelly said. "That's a little bit faster than we had proposed to the city and spoken of earlier," he said. "We're optimistic and we like the way things are turning out; and the response from the people that have been looking already, before we're even really officiall showing the building, has been very positive. We're excited."

The units on the fifth and sixth floors are all 2-bedroom or 3-bedroom lofts with 2 or 2.5 baths.

The sixth-floor corner loft looking down Historic Fourth Street has1,513 square feet of space and three bedrooms, a master bedroom and a Jack-and-Jill bathroom between the other two bedrooms, which is typical, McManamy said.

"There's really a demand for lofts downtown and the lifestyle that affords because its' really about a lifestyle more so than anything else," he said. "And where else can you get kind of panoramic views of the area?"

The learning curve is going to be shorter for the 4th & Jackson condos because folks already know about the market for downtown living, and this should speed up sales, Bogenrief said

The sale condos will have some upgrades not available to the rental condos, he noted, but the differences are not huge. He said there's just a little more "pizzazz" on the upper floors, with those lofts individualized with different tiles, floors, etc. No two will be identical.

"There's still stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, hardwood floors," he said of the fourth-floor units. "It will be at least as nice as United Center."

Condo dwellers will have access to the adjacent Heritage Parking Ramp from both the second and fourth floors.

The rental condos are perfect for use by Sioux City corporations who bring in executives for extended stays of six months or more, McManamy said.

"They'll do a fully furnished corporate loft where the plates and dishes and everything else is there," he said.

He pointed out that St. Luke's Regional Medical Center has had three corporate lofts for five years where they have housed medical students brought in on rotation.

"They say it gives them a better taste of Sioux City than the places they were putting them before, and they want to use it as a recruiting tool. Then maybe after their done with their residency, they'll stay in Sioux City," he said.

A proposed roof garden atop the 4th & Jackson building is another strong possibility, though final approval has yet to be given, Connelly said