Redevelopment Projects
Historic Vestal / Belk Building
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In 1930, Willis J. Vestal built the 20,000 square foot Art Deco style Vestal building on South Main Street. For years its primary occupant was Belk, or later on the Belk-Martin Department store. The second floor housed such offices as James P. Bingham, dentist; Willis J. Vestal, physician; the Vanity Fair Beauty Salon; the Pilot Life Insurance Company, Merle Norman Cosmetics; and a commercial artists’ studio. In the 1960’s, Belk had the entire front façade sheathed in a modern metal façade in order to give the appearance of the strip centers. In 1999, Uptown Lexington, Inc. worked with the previous property owners to remove the false façade and begin a process to renovate the building and return the facility as a contributing asset to the Lexington streetscape.
Vacant from 1996-2004, the building suffered immeasurable damage, primarily from water leaks caused by a faulty roof. In 2002, it was the first property to be accepted by Uptown Lexington, Inc. as a donation to the Uptown Lexington Endangered Properties Program. Formed in 2000, this program is designed to save historic properties that are endangered of being demolished as a result of neglect or use related issues and then market the properties to potential investors.
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In 2004, Uptown Lexington, Inc. formed a partnership with Owen Racing, a local private development company, to renovate the Historic Vestal building. Within one year, the building was literally transformed from the “most negative eyesore” in uptown Lexington, to one of the most important assets of the district. The building now houses the Lexington Home Brands Factory Outlet, an anchor use for uptown; an antique shop, a piece-goods and home furnishing business on the mezzanine level, and a home-furnishing licensing company on the second floor.
Owners Barry & Carolyn Owen made this a “hands on” project, working sometimes seven-days a week to rebuild the multi-use facility based upon its original configuration. The Owens’ used the local Façade Grant Incentive Program to assist with the cost of the exterior improvements; and a partnership was formed between the property owners, Uptown Lexington, Inc. and the City of Lexington, to apply for an Urban Redevelopment Grant from the North Carolina Department of Commerce, Division of Community Assistance, that was used to assist with the cost of repairing code violations on the mezzanine level.
The Historic Vestal/ Belk Building received an award of excellence from the
North Carolina Main Street Center:
Best Façade Improvement Project over $20,000. Awarded in 2005.