Work by BRD Construction is nearly completed on the $8.4 million redevelopment of the former Record Theatre complex into a new mixed-use residential and retail project, with the first new apartments ready for rent as of June 1. About 20 months after kicking off construction on the adaptive-reuse venture, the five partners from Common Bond Real Estate, Urban Vantage and Preservation Studios are finishing up their effort to restore and revive the buildings at 1786 Main St.
and 1040 Lafayette Ave., which had originally been a car dealership when they were built in the 1920s. Located at the corner of Main Street and Lafayette Avenue, the vacant 34,000-square-foot complex consisted of four properties and structures.
Formerly known as the Monroe Building, the primary building at 1786 Main was originally an automobile showroom for Monroe Motor Car Co. and others, before it became a well-known music store for several decades under former Record Theatre owner Leonard Silver. Now redubbed The Monroe, it will feature 17 workforce housing units, affordable for households earning less than 80% of the area median income, as well as 11,000 square feet of commercial and retail space.
The development team – which includes Jason Yots of Common Bond, Richard Rogers and Travis Gordon of Urban Vantage and Derek King and Michael Puma of Preservation Studios – had originally planned to renovate the buildings into an entirely commercial project but switched to housing after Covid-19 threw the re.
