Opportunity & Location
J Pepper Frazier Co. $4,495,000
New to the market, the multiuse commercial building at 34 Centre Street is a rarity these days. It seems that almost any downtown commercial building that is up for sale needs a major makeover. This one is different. Much of the makeover has already been done.

Thirty four Centre Street includes both retail space and a six-room bed and breakfast. One of the retail tenants is just entering the second year of a five year lease. That rent alone is sufficient to pay the carrying cost of a substantial mortgage. The second space is vacant and can be rented at market rates. The bed and breakfast, the Grey Lady, is a going concern. In short, the building is virtually a turn-key operation, offering opportunity to an investor or to a hands-on manager of guest lodg- ings with additional income being derived from the retail offerings.

The retail space in the basement, currently occupied by a beauty salon, is modern and bright, with natural light coming in through large windows on two sides. A wide and inviting outside stairway provides access. There is also a lift between the first floor and the basement.

The laundry room for the B&B is in the basement, as is a half-bath.

The first floor retail space is reached through the building's foyer. Again, windows on two sides bring in outside light. A room that is currently unused affords the opportunity for expanding the usable space.

The stairway from the foyer leads to the entrance to the B&B on the second floor. A small but cleverly designed office is tucked away off the hall.

The guest bedrooms have been refurbished in bright, stylish colors and the bathrooms have all been brought up-to-date with tiling, modern washstands with individualized sinks and glassenclosed showers. There is a cheerful breakfast room/lounge as well as an additional full-bath.

The attic above provides significant storage space and is reached by full stairs.

In addition to the four bedrooms on the second floor, two more are on the first floor, at the back of the house. Returning downstairs to the foyer, a hallway takes the visitor past the lift entrance and out onto the rear deck. On either side of the hallway door, each of the guest suites has its own entrance from the deck. Again, as with their upstairs counterparts, both of these bedrooms and baths have been redone in different decors. All of the guest rooms combine elegance with coziness, the perfect formula for a B&B.

Below the rear deck, at street level, an elegant brick patio and garden await the visitor on a warm summer evening.

Not only has the current owner improved the building, but has thought ahead to the possibility of turning it into condominiums. Paperwork and infrastructure has been prepared to divide it into as many as six units: one for each of the retail spaces, a two-bedroom apartment on the second floor and one for each three of the guest bedrooms.

If the new owner does not wish to personally operate the B&B, it is very likely that an arrangement can be worked out with a nearby inn for that establishment to manage the Grey Lady. In short, the new owner has all kinds of choices.

This downtown building with two retail spaces, and a functioning bed and breakfast with six bedrooms and six baths and one half-bath is

offered for $4,495,000. I