408 Cotton Street, as it looks now.

Cool comes in all shapes and sizes, and we’re thrilled that there are a number of people downtown who see the value in saving, rehabbing and giving our amazing historic buildings new life. 408 Cotton is about 12,000SF worth of cool, an old garage and car park recently purchased by iArchitecture’s Jeff Spikes. Plans are VERY preliminary, but-because he has the ability- he sketched up this quick possible look.

408 Cotton, as it could look.

Jeff’s early plans revolve around space for offices and maybe even a few apartments on the mezzanine! Old Structure Gets New Life- 318ForumNews

Over at the 700 block of Milam, the iconic Uneeda Biscuit Building is seeing some much-needed love, courtesy of a local team committed to not only save the building, but rehab it into 34 apartments geared toward artists and other creative types.

The beautiful building had fallen into complete disrepair when a small untended roof leak turned into a problem that threatened the very structure of the building. The building has been shored up and work is progressing.

We have no definitive timeline yet on expected finish. A couple of blocks away on Cotton Street, the old Arlington Hotel-turned Every Man a King Distillery has now celebrated the finish of its third floor. This building, like the Uneeda, was in dire

Third floor of Every Man a King Distillery

straits when acquired by Andrew Larson and Lindsey Pennington for the distillery. A roof collapse meant that it, too, had few years left. Within two weeks, the building will have a new roof and then, interior work will rock and roll. Opening of the distillery is expected in 2020.

Congratulations to all, and to downtown!