Palmer Lodge, Seville Apts next on deck for restoration in Palmer Park

Shelborne Development expects to bring two more Palmer Park apartment buildings online soon with Palmer Lodge and the Seville Apartments next on deck for a complete restoration. Work is currently ongoing at the two buildings and approaching a finish.

"Both will be online by the end of the year," says Kathy Makino-Leipsitz, who co-owns Shelborne Development with her husband Mark Leipsitz.

Palmer Lodge is the large, four-story apartment building overlooking the southern tip of Palmer Park at the intersection of Woodward Avenue and Covington Drive. The Tudor-Revival was designed by Weidmaier and Gay and built in 1925 at 225 Covington. Indian Village-based Shelborne Development is redeveloping it into 54 apartments and space for up to two businesses in its basement, such as a coffee house or martini bar.

The Seville Apartments, a stately brick building located at 750 Whitmore, is also being redeveloped into 16 apartments. The four-story structure stands sentinel at the corner of Third Avenue and Whitmore Street and has been vacant for years. Shelborne Development is redeveloping both buildings with a bevy of green and modern features like new Energy Star appliances, high-efficiency furnaces, insulation and granite countertops. It is also preserving the historical character of the buildings' exteriors and entrances, among other features.

"It's a brand new unit in the envelope of a historic building," Kathy Makino-Leipsitz says.

Shelborne Development has been working on redeveloping the Seville Apartments and Palmer Lodge since 2008, utilizing a tool box of economic tools such as historic tax credits, brownfield tax credits and federal stimulus funds. The apartments will be made available for both affordable and market-rate housing.

Source: Kathy Makino-Leipsitz and Mark Leipsitz, co-developers of the La Vogue
Writer: Jon Zemke

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