Developers 'jump in with both feet' for Pendleton loft project

The model unit is now open at Glass House Lofts at 512 Reading Road in Pendleton, the first development project by Fat City Properties, LLC.
Developers Ben Anderson and Chad Worz have transformed three former shipping and warehousing buildings of the H. Neuer Glass Company into a combination of 11 single-level and two-level industrial loft condominium units, eight of which have city views.

"We definitely jumped in with both feet with this," Anderson says.   "A 33,000-square-foot condo development project, from gutting it to flipping it....We were naive enough to jump in, but optimistic enough to know that it's going to work regardless if you have a space that's cool enough."

Priced from between $167,000 and $319,000, six of the units have already sold.

"We haven't been really beat up by the economy," Worz says.  "I feel like people are trying to move downtown.  You have the young professionals and you have the downsizers."

After several months of looking at properties in and around downtown, the duo was sold on the buildings as soon as they saw them.

"We saw the buildings, we saw the steel, and we thought, 'This is the building,'" Worz says.

The units come in various shapes and sizes, but all feature two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and exposed duct work, beams, and utilities.

Buyers are free to customize, from the countertops and flooring to additional walls

"Some people come in and they love the brick, some people want it painted," Worz says.  "And that's part of our intent too down here -- we give everybody the opportunity to customize their unit."

Upon closing, buyers get three hours with Patrick Korb, designer of all of the units.

"He's got a really unique feel for where we can go with these things," Anderson says.  "It's been fun to see the different people finish it out and work with Patrick and see the wide range of what he can do.

Anderson and Worz plan on beginning work on two rooftop decks and an underground wine cellar by mid-spring.

And they say that they'll definitely tackle another project.

"I'd say without a doubt," Worz says.  "You've gone to school now for three-and-a-half years on how to do an eleven unit development.  If you didn't do it again, it would be kind of like getting a degree and not really practicing that degree.  So I can't imagine not doing it, because I feel like the next one we did we would be a little bit better than even this one."

Writer: Kevin LeMaster
Sources: Ben Anderson and Chad Worz, Fat City Properties, LLC