SALEM – The opening of a fashionable boutique and a restaurant-nightspot are just the start of a revitalization effort that is transforming Broadway Avenue in downtown Salem.
The goal is the creation of a vibrant, entertainment district.
Joe Hovorka is leading the renaissance. His Teldar Real Estate Co. owns many of the buildings in the zone and is handling the renovation work.
Salem’s Sustainable Opportunity Development Center has been a partner in the effort. “The more assets and vibrancy that the community has, the more attractive it is for an employer to expand here or for an employer to move here,” says Julie Needs, SOD executive director. “Because workforce will come if the community is a space that they want to live in. A lot of people choose where they want to live before they choose where they want to work.”
She sees Hovorka’s efforts, which are bringing more than $6 million in renovations to empty downtown buildings, as a key component to bringing other investment to Salem. It will keep dollars earned by Salem residents in Salem and encourage those from nearby communities to visit and spend money.
Needs and Hovorka say the work is encouraging others as well.
“Success breeds success,” Needs says, noting that other buildings on Broadway and State Street are receiving interest and investment from other developers.
Hovorka’s projects are just starting to pay off.
The renovation of the 5,400-square foot former Schwartz Department store, which most recently housed a thrift shop, has led to the opening of The OG, which is a restaurant, bar and coffee shop with takeout beer and wine sales.
Utilizing historic building tax credits – it’s the first renovation project in Salem to do so – The OG has a modern, fun vibe.
Lib’s Market, a coffee business down the street, is doing a special roast for The OG.
“I really just wanted a community vibe where anybody could come and hang out,” says owner, Scott Larrick, who plans to hold tastings and other events at The OG.
Customers will be able to start their day there with a flavored coffee and maybe get some work done at a table. Later, they can stop by to meet friends in the evening.
The city closed the alley that runs along the side of the building, making it a pedestrian walkway.
USING WHAT’S THERE
One of the things that we have been kind of strategic in is creating more space without creating or building more,” the Needs says. “Businesses don’t use the square footage the way they used to, so how can we take this large space and make it have more space for multiple tenants?”
For instance, Hovorka has plans for a large storefront at 145 and 165 Broadway Ave. Most recently it housed the Lion and Lamb Christian Bookstore and in the distant past was a Sears department store and catalog center.
But at 9,000 square feet per floor, the space is much bigger than most businesses need.
So, Hovorka plans to divide it and renovate it into two spaces. He has a tenant interested in using the first floor and part of the second floor. The remainder of the second floor may end up being coworking or small office spaces.
Through a combination of more than $537,000 in private investment and a $250,000 Community Development Block Grant through the county port authority, the project is slated for completion early next year.
Utilizing a variety of federal and state sources, like historic tax credits and a vibrant communities grant through Jobs Ohio, work is simultaneously underway for several other projects on the block.
Hovorka said the grants and tax credits help offset the high price of renovating and make it possible to keep the leases more affordable for tenants.
“We want them to be successful, we want to set them up for success and give them all the tools and resources that we possibly can,” Needs says.
Next door sits the 18,000-square-foot building that most recently housed Goodwill. It’s being renovated into four units.
The Nevaeh Grace Boutique opened storefront space in one of the units in late June, while renovations continue in the other three units. Offering women’s clothing, the store was the dream of Alisha Hayter, which became a reality as an online venture in 2020.
Soon there may be other businesses in similar spaces on either side of Hayter’s business. The renovation project includes adding dividing walls and abating asbestos so brick walls can be uncovered. Work is underway to uncover wooden floors buried under carpet and original ceilings concealed by drop ceilings.
“This is a 150-year-old wood floor,” Hovorka says, questioning the choices made in the past in one of the units currently being renovated. “They put the stuff (like carpet) in that lasts 15 years as opposed to the stuff that lasts 150 years.”
Behind the stucco façade where the outline of the word Goodwill is still visible, vintage transom windows have been discovered and are being uncovered. Bringing out the beauty in old things is part of what brings people into small towns to shop, says Needs.
“People don’t want to just shop to shop, they want to come for an experience and that experience includes what you feel inside the space and the character that is there,” Needs says.
A place that should soon have a lot of character will be the former Key Bank building at the corner of Broadway and State Street. The space had the décor of a 1980s bank; dry wall covered the ceiling and squared the fluted columns, while carpet squares hid the original marble flooring.
“This is the one I’m really excited about,” Hovorka says, “just because I like bringing it back to its old look, and it is so grand. And I think it has been grossly underutilized.”
He has pictures of how it appeared in 1930, and he is aiming to bring that look back, including the light fixtures.
“I just think in six months the columns will be back, the shiny marble floors, the art deco feel, and we’ve got a color palette from the 1930s that we’re going to do,” Hovorka says. “We’re going to make it look like you just walked in in 1932.”
High-end watches and pens will be sold there, which Hovorka says will be fitting for the space. A Stifel Financial Services office remains upstairs, and the renovation should help bring more attention to its location.
“When you give people choices, they stay longer, they are more apt to come,” Needs says. “We’ve got some great retailers already, so this is just adding to what we already have, more layers.”
GENERATING EXCITEMENT
From the time someone buys a building until they determine if they have the funding they need can take up to 18 months, Needs says. That can make it tough to keep the excitement going, but she expects many grand openings and ribbon cuttings in the next few months on Broadway.
Then there are those projects that require a little more attention. The building at 198 S. Broadway, south of Ezio’s Italian restaurant, has been vacant for a long time. Paint is peeling from the ceilings and a safe has fallen through the floor of the second level and buried itself into the first floor.
“This has been neglected for I don’t know how many decades,” Hovorka says. “As rough as it is, without historic tax credits, there is no way to make this viable, so we are very happy to be able to take advantage of that.”
Needs says all of these projects tie into Salem’s motto – “The Little Big City.” Residents don’t need to leave to find what they need or want, she says.
“The conveniences will be here, the entertainment will be here,” she says. “If you are a remote worker, you can live here.” There are already 11 apartments on the upper floors of downtown buildings in Salem and more are currently being renovated.
“It takes a while for all this to happen,” she says. “When you don’t see it, it’s hard to really understand [that] yes, it really is happening. The OG is such a big deal because it truly is happening and will create such an incredible effect. It’s going to be one celebration right after another.”
Pictured at top: Joe Hovorka and Julie Needs in the former Key Bank building, which is undergoing renovations to bring back its historic charm.