The building that was once home to Cuzzins Bar on Palmer Street is getting a new lease on life.
The former bar, which owners Mel and Sharon Ardelean operated for 15 years, closed in November 2015. But just one year later, roofers are hard at work atop the building. Construction workers can be found updating the building’s exterior. And John Haney, president of ACE Realty Advisors LLC., is ready to see his new office building open for business.
ACE Realty Advisors is currently located on Walden Woods Drive. Though Haney and his team manage the building, the fourth generation Plant Citian wanted to find a permanent location in Historic Downtown’s business climate.
It’s not the first move for the business, which Haney operates with general counsel and CEO Joseph Nolan. The company relocated to the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World in 2015 from Lakeland.
“What we can do and accomplish made sense in Plant City,” Haney said.
Since then, the company has been focused on finding a permanent location — and downtown was a perfect fit.
“There’s a lot we can add to downtown and there’s a lot downtown can do for us,” Haney said.
When Cuzzins, located 111 S. Palmer St., became available, Haney jumped at the chance. The building was purchased several months ago with plans for renovations. The building was purchased for $185,000 and renovations are estimated at $100,000.
“We’ve been assessing what the building needed for the past several months,” Haney said. “We had active construction as of Nov. 10th. We wanted to keep the traditional look of downtown and the flavor of downtown.”
So far, the building has undergone major construction, including building a new roof and all-new air conditioning, as well as an updated interior. Additionally, the buildings façades will be getting a face lift.
The completed office space will have a lobby, conference room, offices and a break room while maintaining the building’s existing structure. An area at the back of the location, which shares a city-maintained parking lot with Krazy Kup, will be left open and may be leased out. In total, the building is 3,000 square feet, with leasable space making up about 700 square feet.
“Obviously we’re doing a lot of investing in this building, but we believe it’s a good place to be,” Haney said. “The structure was good and something we could work with. We have lots of available parking, including curbside parking and the parking lot.”
Haney and his team didn’t have to go far to find a construction team up for the challenge. ACE Realty brought on T. Clayton Jenkins Construction, which operates out of the building next door.
Construction is expected to be completed early in the new year.
“We’re a full-service real estate brokerage company,” Haney said. “We hope to be the go-to for real estate in downtown. We feel like the future for downtown looks very bright. We’re consistently impressed by the positive attitude toward business development in Plant City.”
Haney belongs to the Greater Plant City Chamber of Commerce, the Plant City Economic Development Corp. and Plant City Main Street. All three organizations are trying to expand the business future of Plant City.
“We grow together,” he said. “When we’re willing to work together, that becomes a powerful tool. The moon and stars align to make that happen. We’re looking forward to being a part of this.”
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.