Those who have participated in the Secret City Tour in downtown Mansfield may remember having toured four dark, dirty and – in some areas – junk-filled upstairs apartments that had not been lived in for several decades. Over the course of the last two years, the apartments at 46 Park Avenue West have been emptied out, renovated, and are now ready for new life as high-end downtown apartments that overlook that street. All of this is thanks to new building owners who had a vision for the apartments, as well as the downstairs retail space.
The building was purchased around 2 years ago by Annamarie and Carl Fernyak, who then took steps to have it officially designated as historic. The building dates from the 1890s and was previously featured as part of our Landmarks of Mansfield series. As a designated historic building, the Fernyaks were then able to utilize state tax credits to assist in the cost of the renovation. “You do have to give up some design control,” said Annamarie Fernyak said in reference to the constraints placed on renovation to be eligible for the state assistance, “…but in general [the tax credits] are worth it.”
Wednesday morning the Richland Area Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting to celebrate the completion of the renovation of the apartments, which are now waiting for new residents. The Fernyaks renovated the two bedroom, 1 bath apartments to increase options for downtown living with a greater goal of strengthening Mansfield in mind.
“I personally have always wanted to live in an urban environment and I think Mansfield, in order for it to be viable as a downtown urban community, it needs to have downtown housing, but the housing needs to be diverse. Nobody was willing to do a higher-end type of housing, even though there’s been a lot of interest. So I wanted to create an environment where there’s more diversity in people living downtown. Also, everything I do is geared towards creating more vital, sustainable urban environment,” said Annamarie Fernyak. The next project that the Fernyaks are undertaking is a renovation of the Caldwell Bloor building (next to the Chamber of Commerce), which will create additional commercial and downtown living spaces.
Prior to the ribbon-cutting Jodie Perry, President of the Richland Area Chamber of Commerce, also discussed the need for downtown housing. “Encouraging more downtown housing is the one of the core tenants of the Mansfield Rising plan.”
Annamarie Fernyak told the crowd gathered for the ribbon-cutting that the restoration included returning the original second-floor balcony which can be used by tenants on that floor, as well as keeping historic doors and hardware. One unique feature that the Fernyaks preserved is a light shaft that runs through each of the apartments to bring in natural sunlight. The apartments are on the second and third floors of the building. The street-level commercial space has room for 2 businesses; one side is already occupied by the recently-opened LuxLife MedSpa (story here) and the other side is still available for lease.
Cover Photo: Ribbon-cutting: Marlene Skowronski (Office of Tim Theaker, Mansfield Mayor), Jean Taddie (Mansfield City Councilwoman), Darrell Banks (Richland County Commissioner), Annamarie Fernyak, Tony Vero (Richland County Commissioner), Marilyn John (Richland County Commissioner) – All Photos: 1812Blockhouse/Kristina Krueger
