“We find something new every single day. It’s an honor to be renovating and restoring one of the community’s most iconic buildings,” Rutan said. “We have had tons of interest and a ton of gratitude. While the building may not be occupied by the Willman Furniture Store anymore, the name lives on.”
The building will have a hybrid co-working and business incubator on the first floor called WillWork, with residential space in the upper two floors called Willman Lofts.
There will be nine lofts, including one studio, four one-bedrooms and four two-bedrooms, with one fully outfitted Airbnb, Rutan said. It will also include a rooftop deck over the back section of the 215 building that will be co-working accessible space, a new four-stop elevator, additional storage in the basement, and a small café area.
The co-working space will allow individuals or businesses to join as members, and will also offer daily or weekly memberships.
The 215 property, a two-story commercial building, and the 217 property, a three-story commercial building, originally were two separate retail spaces, and the first floor was connected to each other in the 1950s.
Built in 1885, the building previously housed Willman Furniture, which closed in late summer of 2022 after being open for 87 years.
The property was purchased by Jamon Sellman through an LLC (Willman Sellman Improvements LLC) in February 2023, according to Doug Crabill, Urbana’s Community Development manager.
Credit: Bill Lackey
Credit: Bill Lackey
A groundbreaking was held in December 2023, and a lot of work has been completed since then. This includes framing, drywall, paint, concrete, installation of an elevator and more “to make The Willman Building shine.”
Rutan said the most recent major accomplishment includes the demolition of the old storefront and installation of the new, “much more appealing” storefront.
“Every renovation project on an older building has hiccups. Despite that, our crews have pushed forward and have made tremendous progress. We expect occupancy in the next couple of months,” he said.
The properties received funding through the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program to help a private developer rehabilitate the historic buildings.
The total budget for the project is $2.9 million, with a $499,998 tax credit to owner and developer Jamon Sellman for rehabilitation of the buildings, as well as an $800,000 grant from JobsOhio’s Vibrant Community Program, that is almost exclusively for co-work space development.
However, the 219 address is not part of the tax credit and involves Sellman’s own funding.
Rutan said they’ve had interest in the lofts and have “numerous committed” people that want to live close to downtown Urbana. The lofts range from $1,100 to $1,700.
To get more information on the WillWork space, sign up for the newsletter at https://mailchi.mp/havencolumbus/willwork-urbana. For more information on the project and lofts, visit https://sellmanent.com/willman or visit the “Sellman Enterprises LLC” Facebook page.
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