Downtown could be home to yet another fabulous AirBnb in the not-too-distant future. One of the three apartments on the second floor of the City Center Flats building at 427 Crockett Street is almost ready for its close-up.
The soon-to-be-available AirBnb space at 427 Crockett St.
The studio space is elegantly beautiful, situated around the corner from the new Glass Hat Cafe and overlooking the Millennium Mural. It is very much the creation of James Michael Leblanc and his husband Justin.
The rental is calm, cool and beautifully appointed.
The two met with owner/architect Jason Cram right after Cram acquired the two unkempt properties in the 400 block of Crockett and decided to build out apartments on the second floor. The LeBlancs grabbed a possible once in a lifetime opportunity to help guide both the layout and the fit and finish of the apartment they would live in, a spacious 2-bedroom/2 bath, and later, to do the same with a smaller unit that they wanted to lease as a short term rental.
The cook’s kitchen in the studio loft rental.
It was a seemingly never-ending whirlwind. As with all construction projects, things took longer and cost more than expected, but it was worth it.
James & Justin’s downtown apartment.
The kitchen space in James and Justin’s apartment.
James and Justin graciously threw open the doors of their apartments the night of the May artwalk. The common takeaway of the hundreds who toured the spaces? A bit of jealousy, a lot of admiration, and comment after comment of “I would soooo live here.” James and Justin are confident that, once the Internet sees their Airbnb, the response will be the same.
The proposed AirBnb apartment. See the Millennium Mural in the window?
While all projects are challenging, they can also be a lot of fun, and James found himself in the thick of things choosing paint colors, tile, countertops, lighting, floor stain and a lot of the hardware in both his apartment and the rental space. All we can say is that though his ‘day’ job is as a successful photographer, he may want to moonlight in interior design.
The dichotomy of the new and old in the rental.
The really wonderful thing is that now his new brick and mortar business, On Set Studios, is just a stairwell climb away from his living space. Possibly without realizing it, he has become a part of the history of downtown and the long line of owners who lived above their businesses.
We love that there are high quality AirBnb spaces downtown, and look forward to having another as our neighbor. If you are interested in booking it, you’ll have to wait just a while longer. The nightly rate will be in the range of $175 per. Stay tuned!
