Former Highland newspaper building will get a new purpose, new business soon

Highland’s former newspaper building is getting a new purpose and a new business in the coming months.

The Highland City Council approved a special use permit Monday for a short-term rental property at 1014 Laurel St. The building, which faces Highland’s town square, is currently being renovated into a retail/residential mixed-use building.

The project comes from Warson Development LLC, which is owned by David Schlafly of Schlafly Corp. Just across the square is the new Schlafly Highland Square restaurant, and the adjacent properties are Voegele Photography Studio, Rogier Insurance Agency, a rear parking lot and the downtown Highland Square.

Schlafly wrote in his permit application that the second floor of the building has been entirely gutted and rebuilt for two “new, thoroughly modern two-bedroom apartments with stylistic cues of the building’s historic newspaper past.”

The building at 1014 Laurel St. once housed the Highland Journal, which reported on Highland news from 1893 to 1962, according to the U.S. Library of Congress. Later it became a printing service, which is now closed. According to the images presented to the council, a wall is decorated with newsprint wallpaper and there are several fixtures reminiscent of the building’s legacy.

Schlafly wrote that the intent is to offer those apartments to guests and business leaders for shorter stays through a service such as Airbnb.

“There is a scarcity of hotels and full-fixture residential units for visitors to the city of Highland,” Schlafly wrote in his application. “Guests come to Highland for many reasons, to attend weddings, anniversaries, festivals or business meetings. The beautiful apartments being built at 1014 Laurel Street on Highland Square will complement the experience of guests to Highland with beautiful modern residential environment within a historic brick building on the Square.”

Schlafly also noted that the apartments will bring new customers for dining and shopping on the Square.

The proposal was approved by the Highland Planning and Zoning Board in early December and the city council vote was unanimous.