Danville IDA purchases Lou’s Antiques building [Danville Register & Bee, Va.]

Dec. 28--The building that houses Lou's Antique Mall in downtown Danville has a new owner: the Industrial Development Authority of Danville

Lou Ogden, proprietor of Lou's Antique Mall, said she is pleased with the change, which will mean getting some needed repairs done to the building and having the city take over accident liability for the nearby parking lot.

Richard Turner, chair of the IDA's board of directors, said the building was purchased for $458,000 because it is a key location in the River District.

"Our purchase will provide a stable ownership for the property, which we were concerned was headed toward financial distress," Turner said in a news release.

For Ogden, that means someone will finally fix the roof of the building, which has had leaks for a long time, she said.

"We've had roof issues that the landlord hadn't fixed," Ogden said, and then smiled. "They've (the IDA) already been over and checked it out and will fix it."

Another problem solved will be sharing the parking lot with other nearby businesses, Ogden said. Since Lou's Antiques Mall was responsible for paying for liability insurance for the parking lot, they could not allow customers for other businesses to use it.

The city plans to take charge of the parking lot, taking responsibility for liability insurance and maintenance. This will allow any downtown visitors to use the 22-space parking lot.

Ogden said she was impressed when City Manager Joe King personally brought over the new lease, and explained what the city was willing to do.

"He seems like a nice fella," Lou Ogden said. "He's been very nice to me, and seems to want us to be happy and settled here."

"Lou's Antiques is exactly the kind of business we want in our River District ... we will accommodate them as long as they want to be there," King said.

An urban design plan unveiled in August eliminated the building from the downtown layout, which upset Lou and her husband, Robert. At the time, they said if they had to pack up the store, they would not move it to another Danville location; rather, they would simply leave the city.

Ogden said she is pleased and relieved at the current turn of events, and has no plans to leave the current location.

"We have 102 vendors; that's more than anyone thought. You just can't pick that up and move it," Ogden said of the more than 1 million items in stock.

King said the city has no plans to renovate the building at this time because other priorities in downtown redevelopment are already underway.

The city was recently approved for a $1.4 million grant from the Virginia Department of Transportation to improve downtown Danville's streets and sidewalks. The city will match that grant if the overall proposal is formally approved by Danville City Council on Tuesday.

King said the bidding process for some aspects of the project is already under way, and plans call for construction to begin this summer.

The IDA has purchased several properties in downtown Danville in recent months, with plans to renovate most of them to attract new businesses to the area. Those buildings include the former Downtowner Motor Inn, former Durham Hosiery building and former River City General Store. It also owns the former Atrium buildings, which already have tenants.

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