Renovation of ‘forgotten building’ to transform ‘the gateway to College Hill’

Stephen Holt has lived in College Hill for more than a decade, and during that time he’s driven by Douglas and Hillside and wished for better for the brick building on the southeast corner.

After several attempts to acquire it, he and a group of investors with what they’re calling Crown Plaza LLC were able to purchase the building and now plan to transform it.

“We’re thinking we’re just really going to class up that building, and instead of it being a tired, forgotten building, it’s going to become a highlight of the neighborhood,” Holt said. “I feel like Douglas and Hillside is the gateway to College Hill.”

Over the weekend, Holt put up paper with question marks in the windows at the building “to create a little bit of buzz. Might be kind of fun.”

He’s planning extensive renovations inside and out.

“It’s never been viewed as a Class A . . . type space,” Holt said.

The building, which is immediately west of the Crown Uptown Theatre, has three addresses.

There’s 3201 E. Douglas, which most recently was the Enchanted Mermaid. The 2,000-square-foot space will remain empty until renovations are complete.

At 3203 E. Douglas is the Flying Pig Improv, and at 110 S. Hillside is Terra Skin Studio.

Builders Inc. had owned the building along with 3211 E. Douglas, which is on the other side of the Crown Uptown, where Designs for Life is. Builders would sell the corner building only with the sale of the one down the street as well. Holt and his partners don’t have plans to renovate that building.

At the corner building, they plan to replace existing windows with new floor-to-ceiling ones and add the same windows where it’s mostly brick along Hillside.

“When we redo the facade . . . it’s not going to be the generic strip center, throw up basic glass windows and call it a day,” Holt said.

He said they’re adding intricate moldings and “kind of Gatsby-era or 1920s-era architectural details,” which will be in line with the time it was built.

Along with being a real estate investor and doing some commercial leasing, Holt also has done high-end home renovations in areas such as Eastborough.

He also had been in negotiations to buy the Crown Uptown, which has been for sale.

“I was concerned that a new owner might demolish those buildings to make room for more parking.”

Though he was able to secure the corner addresses, his group did not reach a deal for the theater.

Crown Plaza LLC is considering other College Hill properties and beyond.

“Quite a bit,” Holt said. “College Hill is kind of my home base because that’s where I live and the area I love.”

He said he’s impressed with renovations others have done in the area, such as the Belmont, which he called “a very first class renovation and operation.”

With places such as the Belmont up the street on Douglas and Georges French Bistro several blocks to the north, Holt said the area has one of the city’s highest concentrations of high-end restaurants.

He also said the nearby Uptown Landing with apartments and commercial properties is “the first kind of big-city feeling project” for that area.

Holt said there has been so much work and improvement in the area that it makes sense to update the building he purchased.

“I think it will help further some of what some of the other businesses have already done.”

He said it’s like someone changing a front door.

“When you change your front door on your house, it kind of dramatically changes the look of the house,” Holt said.

“Douglas and Hillside’s kind of where it starts.”