A long-vacant pair of historic buildings in the heart of downtown Marietta is set for new life under a $10 million redevelopment plan announced by Ataraxia Properties, LLC, working with JobsOhio, Ohio Southeast Economic Development (OhioSE), the Southeast Ohio Port Authority and the City of Marietta, according to a release from OhioSE.
The project will adaptively reuse 43,800 square feet across the two connected Glass Press buildings at 212 Putnam Street and 217 Union Street. Once complete, the buildings will hold apartments on the upper floors, with a coffee shop, offices and a food hall in the ground-floor commercial spaces, OhioSE said in its release.
“By investing in Ohio’s historic downtowns, we are creating new housing, attracting new businesses, and bringing new energy to communities across the state,” Gov. Mike DeWine said in the OhioSE release. “For more than a century, the Glass Press buildings have been part of the fabric of downtown Marietta, and that legacy will live on in the community’s new chapter,” DeWine said in the release. JobsOhio President and CEO J.P. Nauseef said in the release: “The Glass Press buildings helped build Marietta once. Now they’ll help build its future and bring new energy to downtown.”
The financing leans on preservation incentives: the restoration is supported by $2.5 million in State Historic Tax Credits, and JobsOhio is adding a $1 million Vibrant Communities grant, according to the release. The work will include exterior masonry repair, new compatible windows, replacement roofing and full building-systems upgrades, along with removing non-historic interior alterations and restoring historic materials.
The buildings were built in 1900 and 1906 and housed prominent Marietta businesses for more than 100 years — everything from a furniture and music store to a publishing company — before Ataraxia Properties purchased them in 2023, the release said. “After more than two years of extensive planning, coordination, and dedication, we are incredibly excited to be approaching the start of construction on the Glass Press Project,” Seth Murphy, manager of Ataraxia Properties, said in the OhioSE release.
State Sen. Brian Chavez and State Rep. Kevin Ritter both praised the project in the release, and OhioSE President and CEO Matt Abbott said in the release that the agency is pleased to support “this exciting and catalytic project.” Construction is approaching, though the release did not set a completion date; when finished, the project is expected to add housing, dining and gathering space to a downtown block that has sat largely quiet for years.
Photo: w_lemay, CC BY-SA