The Elks Lodge building in Hollister secures its final
tenant
Several years, $1 million and four new tenants later, Ignacio
Velazquez and partner Vince Miguel have fully leased the
three-story Elks Lodge building in the heart of downtown
Hollister.
The Elks Lodge building in Hollister secures its final tenant
Several years, $1 million and four new tenants later, Ignacio Velazquez and partner Vince Miguel have fully leased the three-story Elks Lodge building in the heart of downtown Hollister.
Like the proverbial keystone in a arch, the final tenant in the newly refurbished 1924 gem will occupy the top floor by December, filling out the Coolidge-era building most Hollister residents have come to call the “Whalen’s Drug Store” building.
Bill Avera, the director of the Hollister Redevelopment Agency, applauded the efforts of Miguel and Velazquez, particularly in leasing the upper floors.
“Too often the upper floors of buildings in Hollister sit vacant or are used for storage, so it’s good to see these leased out,” Avera said.
On Tuesday Velazquez sat in front of a restored fireplace in the second-floor offices of the startup firm Polaris Law Group LLP and talked about nearly wrapping up the extensive retrofit and the role the building plays in the overall redevelopment of the downtown.
Velazquez is a key player in the future of Hollister’s downtown, also having bought and refurbished The Vault Restaurant building cattycorner from the Elks Lodge. There had been some minor seismic upgrades performed in the 1960s, but the building had fallen into disrepair and required major seismic retrofitting following the Loma Prieta Earthquake in October 1989.
By the time Velazquez bought the building, the ceilings were rotted out and collapsing. Careful to respect the architectural and historical character of the building after the seismic retrofit, he went about refurbishing the interior – keeping vintage features where they penciled out and replacing them with similar features that preserved the historical ambiance or provide for modern conveniences.
For example, the fireplace in the Polaris office was refurbished entirely except for one detail: In 1924 wood was hauled up to the second floor, whereas Velazquez had his crews run a gas line into the fireplace.
“You need to do it right – not low budget. I learned a lot of lessons on the first building (The Vault), and learned a lot on this building,” he said. “If I ever do a third building I’ll have that much more knowledge going in.”
Velazquez speaks confidently about the downtown’s future, calling it a “special downtown” that only needs Hollister residents to be convinced of its viability. He’d like to see more offices and restaurants open, which would provide additional foot traffic from the office workers while drawing in more residents to the eateries.
“Then you will start seeing more retail,” he said.
While Avera said that anything that brings more people downtown has a positive effect on the broader core area, he would like to see more retail-type uses on ground floors, which tend to generate greater foot traffic than office uses.
In the meantime, Velazquez said he was grateful for the patience the surrounding retail has shown – such as next-door neighbors Muenzer’s Sporting Goods and Dick Bruhn clothiers, which will benefit in the long run.
Construction on the first and second floors are expected to wrap early in August, while the third floor tenants, another law firm that Velazquez declined to name until it was ready to make an announcement, would be ready to move in before Christmas.
