Businessman takes on the mother of all fix-ups

BY CHRISTY MARSTERS

NovaNewsNow.com

A businessman behind the Front Yard Fix-up contest has taken on the mother of all property projects with the purchase of a condemned structure on Albert Street.

Scott Geddes, owner of the Woodshire Inn and Cocoa Pesto Bistro, bought the rundown apartment building on 522-526 Albert Street in Windsor July 31.

The plan is to revitalize the residence and turn the apartments into high quality suites as an addition to the Woodshire providing the building can be salvaged, Geddes said. “But we don’t want to spend so much money into reconstructing the building that it causes financial grief to the business.

“The hope is the building can be brought back into a good state because it’s a piece of history,” Geddes said. “What has been a building sitting silent for the last year can be turned into a positive on Albert Street.”

This time last year, the house on Albert Street was alive with controversy as public debate over its condition and effects on the community raged. The building was eventually boarded up and considered a public hazard as the Provincial Fire Marshall’s Office deemed it an unfit place to live.

Margaret Houston, residing at 475 Albert Street, remembers the hardships being a neighbouring resident during that time. “It was terrible. You had to live here to know what it was like,” she said.

“I think a lot of people are pleased Scott has bought the building,” Houston said. “Now we know it won’t go back to the way it was,” she added.

Geddes says regardless of what happens to the property, it can be assured the area will lend itself to a growing community. “It seems to me the building is a great addition to what we’re doing with the business.”

Flowers could be viewed on the front landing the same day the sale became a done deal, Geddes said. “The yellow flowerboxes are there at least to symbolize a start. It answers some of the question to suspicions on the street and yellow is a fun colour. It brightens the place up a bit, I think.”