Charleston Gazette

December 9, 2009

New China owner gets extension for repairs

The owner of the former New China restaurant got two more months to finish required renovations of his building at the corner of Elizabeth Street and Washington Street East.

By Jim Balow

Staff writer

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The owner of the former New China restaurant got two more months to finish required renovations of his building at the corner of Elizabeth Street and Washington Street East.

Charleston Urban Renewal Authority board members gave the extension to Philip Chin after his contractor, Leigh Staunton of Sensible Solutions, told them he can't find the bricks he needs for the outside walls. Chin was supposed to finish the job by the end of the year.

Chin previously agreed to fix up the building within four months. Under provisions of the East End Community Renewal Plan, CURA had notified the owners of the long-vacant building that, if they didn't renovate it, CURA might use its power of eminent domain to buy it.

"Our whole project is being held up by bricks," Staunton told board members. After uncovering the brick exterior walls, he said, he learned the bricks were larger than normal and no longer are made. "I've been looking for bricks for four months," he said.

Mike Gioulis, a design consultant helping Chin through East End Main Street, might have found a source of bricks, Staunton said. If not, he can buy extra-large bricks and cut them to fit.

CURA board members gave him until Feb. 28 to finish, and plan to tour the site in late January.

"I'm disappointed the job's not done," CURA Director Pat Brown said after the meeting. "The four months we gave them was plenty of time. I haven't talked to Ric [Cavender, the Main Street director], but if in fact he's talked to Mike Gioulis, it's a valid problem. There has been progress. Our goal is to have it renovated and get some renters."

Also Wednesday, board members agreed to act as a fiscal agent and provide matching funds for a possible streetscape grant on the West Side.

Pat McGill, director of West Side Main Street, told board members they previously agreed to back two federal grant applications for the first and second phases of the West Washington Street streetscape project: a transportation enhancement grant for the first phase and a stimulus grant for the second phase.

The transportation grant was rejected, but when stimulus money was approved, the state Division of Highways agreed to apply the grant to the first phase. Main Street now is applying for a transportation grant for the second phase, from Hunt Avenue to West Avenue.

DOH officials are working on final designs for phase 1 -- from near Florida Street to Hunt Avenue -- and plan to bid the contract in January, she said. The project should be completed by November 2010, McGill said.