Lee Ingram recently purchased the Fairway Shopping Center, located at 1600 South Gold Street in Centralia, and is currently doing an extensive overhaul and remodel of the whole shopping center. The goal is to attract new businesses and to make the shopping center a “Twin City destination” for shoppers. T.J. Guyer Property Management will be managing the property for Ingram.
“Lewis County is a place people want to live – I love living here – and it’s also becoming a place people want do business,” says Fred Lofgren, owner of T.J. Guyer Property Management. “With that said, you’ve got an owner that has purchased a building and is taking it to the next level with his plans, which is amazing.” T.J. Guyer has always done commercial property real estate, but they have seen it really ramp up in the past six years as Lewis County continues to grow.
Ingram says the buildings “had a lot of deferred maintenance and needed a complete update. So we had an architect draw up schematics for the 1616 building and we are going to go with that theme and carrying it throughout the shopping center.”
The remodel is mostly cosmetic, but they are updating anything mechanical – including the heating and air conditioning systems – and structural as needed. “We are really going to go through and clean it up nicely,” he adds.
The new look will blend modern design with materials that fit in with the Lewis County landscape and surrounding historic buildings, including brick with wainscoting. The siding will give it the fresh, modern look with a dark hardwood and metal fascia.
“People who live here want to work here,” says Lofgren. “This remodel will attract new and growing businesses, which creates jobs for our residents. And it gives us more shopping choices. Commercial growth is a big positive for all of us and there is nothing more exciting than to be able to offer a beautiful piece of commercial property to a prospective tenant. It makes my job easier when you have a nice property to show.”
Ingram explains that the updating will give business owners several opportunities when it comes to growth. It will provide opportunities for entrepreneurs who may be thinking about starting their own businesses, as well as for companies who have been thinking about expanding into the Twin City area. They are already in talks with several businesses about the new center, though nothing can be announced at this time.
“The location is spectacular,” Lofgren adds. “I think it’s really a Twin City mall – not a Centralia or Chehalis mall – because it’s such a great location with plenty of traffic flow. The owner is doing it right and it’s really going to be a great destination for both businesses and consumers.”
They are also updating the parking lot for customers, including changing out the current lights to LEDs and reconditioning the asphalt. “We really want to breathe some life back into it,” Ingram explains. “It’s really a dying asset right now. We are going to revive and revitalize it so it’s prosperous again.”
Ingram also owns the Goodwill shopping center in Centralia, which he remodeled as well. “When I bought it, it was a run-down old center and Harrison Avenue wasn’t that nice,” he says. “There was a burn-out hotel and the like. But everything has been uplifted and that’s a nice corridor now. We are hoping to do the same here.” He also owns the O’Blarney’s building and the Station Coffee Shop building – both of these he has done extensive remodels on in the past as well. Ingram’s specialty is buying declining buildings and revitalizing them, which in turn helps revitalize the neighborhood.
“It’s interesting and creative,” Ingram says about what he does. “I get to take something and make something nice out of it. Just like old car enthusiasts like to fix up old cars, I love working on old buildings.”
They started on the 1616 Gold building first, and then will do the Baskin-Robbins building. Ingram is hoping to have three of the five buildings completed by mid-summer 2017, though the weather has caused a few delays. “We are waiting for better weather to really get started,” he explains. They began outside work on May 1.
For more information, visit the Fairway Shopping Center’s website or the T.J. Guyer website.
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