Transforming The Columns: New owners of West Dennis landmark creating apartments

Susan Vaughn
·3 min read
2

The large building with tall fluted Ionic columns at 401 Main St., (Route 28) in West Dennis has been a home, a hotel, a boarding house and a nightclub since it was built by Capt. Obed Baker in 1861.

Unoccupied since the 1980s, The Columns, as it is known, went into disrepair and has had several owners with failed ideas for reviving it.

The property is now abuzz with workers, and the changes are becoming visible to passersby with its new white siding and deep blue shutters framing the original tall windows. The building will retain many of his special features, like its French windows.

The property at 401 Main St. in West Dennis once known as The Columns will soon be made into townhouses and apartments.
The property at 401 Main St. in West Dennis once known as The Columns will soon be made into townhouses and apartments.

The new owners are leading a major transformation of the iconic building into a total of 16 owner-occupied and low-income rental units in the main structure and in added duplex townhouses.

The distinctive shutter color is called “Imperial Blue,” according to Tim McElroy, a 50-50 partner in the project with Lindsay and Mike Weiss. McElroy is project manager and Lindsay Weiss is manager of The Columns Development Inc. of Lynnfield that bought the property for $975,000 on April 1, 2022, according to the town assessor’s records.

McElroy, a native Cape Codder who lives in Sandwich, said he was a master plumber before he got into the real estate business with the Weisses, who are seasonal residents of Sandwich.

A schematic plan for developing The Columns at 401 Main St. in West Dennis.
A schematic plan for developing The Columns at 401 Main St. in West Dennis.

“We work with great subcontractors. We have a good team,” McElroy said in a phone interview with Lindsay Weiss. He also said their architect Brian Stein of BDS Designs in Hamilton “really understands the project.”

The latest special permit for the current renovations was approved by the Dennis Planning Board and issued on May 3. When the company took over the property last year, the owners got permits for a new roof, siding and windows to make the building weathertight, McElroy said. They also have approval for a new modern, denitrification septic system that will be installed at the front of the building this fall, he said.

“Soon we will have a lawn in front,” Weiss added.

McElroy said a lot of approvals were required, but he and Weiss worked well with former Town Planner Dan Fortier to get the project underway.

“People are excited to see something happening,” after seeing the property abandoned for so long, McElroy said.

The partners are following the basic site and housing plans with some modifications that were approved for the previous owners, 1620 Capital Inc. of Plymouth, that bought the property for $415,000 in 2019. Despite backing of the Dennis Historical Commission, the company’s request of $300,000 from the Community Preservation Committee was denied at a special town meeting in November 2021 by a vote of 270-160. The main reason given was that it was being done by a for-profit company. The company then abandoned the project.

West Dennis Captain HouseCapt. Obed Baker Home"The Columns"
West Dennis Captain HouseCapt. Obed Baker Home"The Columns"

The new company’s modified building plans were approved in a special permit last December, according to building department records.

The plan shows five one- and two-bedroom units in the two floors of the main building, ranging from 800 to 1,200 square feet. Two units are restricted for low-income renters. The duplex townhouses in six buildings with 11 units will ring the main building on three sides. Two of those also will be restricted for low-income renters.

“There is no other property like this,” McElroy said. “It’s going to be a great thing for the town.”

The partners said they have had great success on the Cape with other residential housing in several towns from Sandwich to Chatham.

“We are hoping the main building will be close to ready in the spring of next year,” Weiss said.

They plan to start on the townhouses likely next summer and will sell the main building condos while the townhouses are under construction. She stressed that the owners have never sought funding and the project has always been privately and fully funded.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Developers to transform The Columns into a West Dennis showpiece