Groundbreaking to transform Pico Terrace to Pulaski Lofts

Photos by William Paine/Patriot Publishing

Town, County and State officials broke ground for the Pulaski Lofts. The former home of Pulaski Middle School is set to be transformed into 102 apartments by this time next year.

By WILLIAM PAINE

Patriot Publishing

Early Thursday afternoon, a groundbreaking ceremony took place for the Pulaski Lofts project on Pico Terrace in Pulaski. When completed, this structure will house 102 newly refurbished apartments.

This same building served as the home of Pulaski Middle School from 1974 until its closure in the spring of 2020. This sprawling structure overlooking the Town of Pulaski was built in 1937 and first served the community as the PICO (Pulaski Iron Company) Terrace Elementary School. The building was repurposed in the 1950’s to become Pulaski High School until the high schools were consolidated in 1974.

County officials joined other community members in front of a row of shiny shovels placed there for the groundbreaking.   Both supervisor of the Massie District, Mike Mooney, and Andy Owens, Chairman of the Pulaski County Economic Development Authority had a personal connection to the day’s events, as they once attended school in the historic building.

Laura Walters, Chairwoman of the Pulaski County Board of Supervisors gave the opening remarks.

“Today, we break ground on Pulaski Lofts, a project which represents both progress and preservation,” said Walters. “The Lofts Project is more than just a development. It’s a perfect example of how adaptive reuse can breathe new purpose into a historic building, blending our past with the future. Today, we begin the transformation through an incredible adaptive reuse, honoring the past while giving life for the future generations and creating a place where people live, work and thrive, while preserving the character and history that makes it all special.  I think anytime you can preserve heritage and move forward, that’s an awesome match.”

Echelon Resources, owned by Edwin Gaskin, is doing the renovation work, which is expected to cost approximately $18 million when completed. The Virginia Housing Development Authority provided $12 million of the funding and Locus Bank provided a bridge loan for the other $6 million. The Pulaski Lofts project is scheduled for completion in Oct. 2025 but Gaskins hopes to complete the project by late summer. An Echelon Resources construction crew comprised of about 50 workers has been on site since the beginning of August and much work has already been done. All the glass windows at the front of the building have been removed and lofts are already being constructed within the old school.

“The windows are being restored with the same frames and new glass,” Gaskin explained. “We’re going to replace all of that glass and repaint and replace the rotten wood. So, a lot of carpentry needs to be done on those windows. Then we’re doing an interior storm window system because the state and the feds won’t allow us to do exterior storms because of the  historic tax credits. There’s a lot of constraints because of those programs but we’ve done it before. This is our 8^th historic school renovation project.”

“If you ever wonder how a community who strives to reach lofty goals ever manages to achieve them, such as our goal of having 40,000 people call Pulaski home by 2030, well here it is … this is how it’s done” said Pulaski County Administrator Jonathan Sweet. “This storied property has at least one more repurposing in it, and that is to continue to serve the needs of this community as a pet friendly, market rate one-to-two-bedroom, loft style apartments with luxury amenities. It’s just a short walk to the growing commercial district of Main Street and downtown Pulaski.”

“Workforce housing is a passion of mine and we cannot grow our businesses if we do not have a place to house the employees that we want to bring in here to be able to expand our businesses,” said State Senator Travis Hackworth, as he addressed those in attendance. “When I look behind us and I see a building that could have been torn down, a building that could have been demolished and made into something else … we are repurposing this for one of the greatest needs that the Commonwealth has today, and that is housing.”

“This building predates me and if we do our job right, will long outlast me,” said Gaskin. “In fact, we consider ourselves stewards over this chapter of its redevelopment, and hopefully it will last many, many, many more decades.”

Following the groundbreaking ceremony, Gaskins gave a short tour of the building. Inside, crews had erected multiple wooden frames which will eventually be covered with sheet rock to form new rooms in each apartment.

“This whole building qualifies for Historic Tax Credits,” said Gaskins as he led the small crowd into the entranceway of the old school building. “You’ll see that both the ceiling and the floor has been removed. That’s because this place was rife with asbestos. The county secured $400,000 worth of grants, we spent another $200,000 in abatement beyond that … and counting. Frankly, it’s the most asbestos I’ve ever seen.”

Though these classroom spaces are being completely redone, evidence of the past remains in the form of built in cabinetry, transoms above the doors and some will even retain their slate chalkboards.

“A lot of this has to do with how we work with building code officials to address things that you just don’t find on other properties … like transoms above doors,” Gaskin explained. “We can’t change those historic doors but they don’t meet current building code, either.  So, there’s a lot of interplay on building codes with historic buildings. These historic windows will cost a small fortune to rehabilitate, and they will end up as single pain windows because of the historic tax credits.”

Most of these new apartments will have very large windows, except for the ones in the basement area. According to Gaskin, the old school auditorium will be subdivided into apartments that will have a skylight.

Both Jonathan Sweet and Edwin Gaskin thanked all who have been involved in the Pulaski Lofts Project including the Pulaski County Board of Supervisors, the Pulaski County School Board, the county’s Economic Development Authority, the Planning and Community Development Department and the Town of Pulaski.