Greeley’s Armory building about to change ownership

GREELEY – One of downtown Greeley’s most notorious hotspots is about to change ownership.

Greeley real estate company Thomas & Tyler LLC have the State Armory building, 614 Eighth St., under contract for purchase, according to company principal Drew Notestine. The company is currently in the inspection period and plans to close before the end of January.

“It looks like everything will be on track,” Notestine said.

SPONSORED CONTENT

The many benefits of simple, coordinated healthcare

Kaiser Permanente combines health care and coverage in one connected system to maximize employee health and minimize employer costs.

Dean Hagemeister, the current owner of the building and the restaurant/bar business that operates there, did not wish to comment for this story.

While Notestine said he wasn’t sure what the plans will be for the building, he indicated that there will likely be some changes. It could also continue to operate as a restaurant. Included in the purchase is much of the memorabilia that decorates the walls – vintage pieces from history and Hollywood.

Such touches have made the Armory famous – or infamous.

“If you’ve spent some time in Greeley or went to UNC, you’ve heard about the Armory,” Notestine said. “That building has some history.”

The State Armory in Greeley was commissioned in 1921 as a headquarters for the 157th Infantry unit of the Colorado National Guard, according to Greeley’s Historic Preservation Department. It cost $50,000 to build. In 1929, it housed a National Guard machine gun company.

In addition to its use as a National Guard center, the Armory hosted dances and theater, Saturday night fights and professional wrestling matches. In 1955, the building was used as a morgue after 44 people were killed in an airplane explosion over Weld County.

In 1959, it became home to Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church’s youth center and was later used by the Boys Club of Greeley. In 1972, it was acquired by Greeley National Bank, which sold it to Grand American Enterprises, which converted the Armory into a restaurant.

Whether the building’s future will be as eclectic as its past is yet to be seen.

Valuable parking

The building had been on the market for several months, Notestine said. The company had considered it previously but was recently drawn back to it for one key piece of the deal – the parking.

The sale includes not only the historic building and its adornments, but also an 84-space parking lot. In downtown-land, parking space is like gold.

The city currently leases the spaces to provide public parking. Notestine said that such a partnership would likely continue, but that having control of the parking area is a good position for the future.

“We don’t have a need for the whole parking lot now, but it will be good for the long term,” he said.

He added that his company’s Chase Building is located nearby and could use a few more parking spaces.

As for the future use of the Armory, Notestine said that it is really up in the air. Because the building is well equipped as a bar and restaurant, it will probably remain so for the time being, he said. However, Notestine is keeping an open mind for the future. Several possibilities for development include loft units, artists’ studios or a gallery or a performance or movie theater.

“Our business focus is really downtown Greeley,” Notestine said.

The State Armory will be the fourth  downtown building that the Thomas & Tyler company owns. It also claims the Greeley Building, 710 11th Ave.; the Chase Building – also known as the Greeley National Bank Building – 822 Seventh St.; and the Home Light and Power Building, 810 Ninth St.

The company put the Greeley Building on the market earlier this year, but Notestine said it is not being marketed aggressively.

The current Thomas & Tyler downtown holdings are office buildings; the Armory is likely to add something different to the portfolio.

“I don’t think I see this building becoming an office,” he said. “I would like to see the building become something new and improved.”

New and improved downtown

New and improved are concepts that Greeley’s downtown area has really latched onto in the past few years.

Mark Olson, executive director of the Greeley Downtown Development Authority, said that the evolution of downtowns usually takes a long time. Greeley’s downtown has come a long way in the past five years.

The largest project of late was the construction of the Ice Haus on Eighth Avenue, which opened in October 2005.

“That has really opened Greeley Downtown in terms of increased traffic,” Olson explained. He referred to the economic impact of the Ice Haus as the trifecta – it brings in children and teens for hockey leagues and skating, which in turn brings in parents and also attracts the grandparents.

“The Ice Haus is one of those rare tax-funded projects that is actually paying for itself,” he said, explaining that it is not just breaking even, but is making money.

Olson said that the Ice Haus acts as one of the bookends to downtown, with the other being the Union Colony Civic Center.

“We know that those facilities aren’t going anywhere,” he said.

While downtown Greeley has had its share of businesses leaving or closing, Olson said that it seems there are one or two more to open for every one that is lost. In the coming year, the DDA board will look at working out some incentive programs with the city to encourage further redevelopment of downtown.

The DDA will likely revisit the possibility of bringing an arena to downtown. A previous package did not receive support from city council. However, Olson feels that there is support for the concept.

Another big focus for downtown is bringing in more residential development.

“By all studies, to have a healthy downtown, you have to have rooftops,” Olson said.

One possible project would be housing units on the west side of the DDA boundaries geared toward adults or seniors.