Gardens of Charleston opening in downtown (w/video)

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Gardens of Charleston opening in downtown
October 8, 2010
By RICHARD PAYERCHIN
The Morning Journal

LORAIN — A new owner wants the Gardens of Charleston to bloom again.

In 2004, developers rolled out the plan for 30 new residential units, including townhouse condominiums lining an indoor atrium built off West Sixth Street.

The project stalled, but new owner Gary Davis plans to finish the condos and apartments and put in a coffee shop and ethnic food court in the building’s commercial space at 610 Broadway.

The Gardens of Charleston is named for the city of Charleston, S.C., but matches nicely with the historic first plat of Lorain, which then was named Charleston.

The residence’s centerpiece is a climate-controlled indoor courtyard with a brick floor, masonry walls, gardens, fountains and seating for residents.

“You don’t expect this in the town of Lorain,” Davis said. “Everybody that walks in that door are just, ‘Ah, what is this?’ That’s the fun part of watching this project, watching the expressions of people’s faces when they see this.”

Davis, 66, is a soft-spoken veteran of U.S. Army Special Forces. A native of Tacoma, Wash., he has studied engineering and finance and has worked for Boeing and Black & Decker.



A self-described fan of Victorian homes, Davis said he started buying properties in the early 1970s and has renovated homes, apartments and commercial buildings around the country. That grew into a business, Alpine Management, now the owner of apartments and storage units, he said.

On a visit to northern Ohio, Davis stopped in Lorain.

“Then I walked into the little town of Lorain and I saw this and I fell in love with the little town,” Davis said. He spoke optimistically about Lorain’s lakefront and the Black River Landing and businesses that will follow residents downtown if people have a place to live.



Davis also described his vision for a first-floor coffee shop off Broadway and a food court with German, Greek, Asian and Puerto Rican cuisine.

“I want the food court and the coffee shop because I want to bring people downtown,” Davis said. Plans are on the drawing board, but Davis hopes to have it open in a few months.

“I want it to help the condo portion, but what’s good for the condo is good for the town,” he said.

Previous developers spent about $3.5 million renovating 18 townhouses and 11 single-story apartments that sit above the commercial space on Broadway. Davis said he expects to spend about $1.5 million to finish out the townhouses, which will have a lease-to-own program, the apartments and the commercial space.


Tenants will have parking beneath the building, with room for at least 60 cars. Some units will have rooftop decks behind the building, and townhouse residents will have a community deck with a jacuzzi and barbecue grills on top of the building.

Since he closed on the building sale earlier this year, Davis credited Lorain Mayor Tony Krasienko, Service Director Robert Gilchrist and Chief Building Official Richard Klinar for their help with the permits needed to continue renovations.


The building already has several tenants, including Davis’ daughter and son-in-law, Raquel and Tom Taylor, and their children, along with resident caretaker Joe Potter.

And himself.

“This is my new home,” Davis said. “I had to get more involved in it than I thought I would, but I love it.”