The Berry Project

The Berry Project. . This row of buildings from 2009 to 2017 Second Avenue dates from the early years of the 20th century and has undergone a variety of changes and modernizations over the years. Originally part of a larger building that burned in 1944 (now the site of Brombergs’s), 2009 survived and was rebuilt and known for many years as the Lee Building. Martha Washington Lunch originally occupied 2013, and 2017 was originally known as Gunn’s Drug Store. Burger Dry Goods was the first occupant of 2015, a fine building designed by H. D. Breeding and completed in 1906. The Burger-Phillips Company occupied the three buildings from 2013-17 in the 1920’s. The Burger building was remodeled in 1939 and again in 1954, both times for large furniture businesses. In the 1960’s the Lee Building was completely faced with marble panels. , In 1983, 2013-17 was redeveloped once more, taking advantage of federal tax credits for historic rehabilitation and removing much of the face material that had obscured the buildings original appearance. At that time 2015 became known as the Berry Building, and that name has been retained. , As part of their commitment to downtown preservation and vitality, developer John Lauriello, Southpace Properties, Inc. and investor Steve Lichter purchased these properties in 1996 and arranged for their rehabilitation as offices for a number of professional firms. Moody and Associates was responsible for design services, and Craftsman Construction was the general contractor. An important aspect of this work was a study of the original appearance of the buildings and an effort was made to recover this as much as possible. Owners and tenants are Longshore, Buck and Longshore; Bouzoukis and Oglesby; Durward and Cromer; Dillard, Goozee and King, Smith, Spires and Peddy, and Atelier Digital, Inc. The individuals represented by these firms have returned this row of historic buildings to successful economic use and this part of the downtown district to a more vital activity.