[LMich]

One of the more interesting buildings along the Square, if not the most interesting:

Matthew Dae Smith/For the Lansing State Journal

Renovation of Ranney Building completed

Jeremy W. Steele • jwsteele@lsj.com • February 6, 2009 • From Lansing State Journal

Four years ago, it was as though a different building sat at 208 S. Washington Square.

The flat, argyle-pattern metal facade was an ode to the 1950s. The downtown Lansing building's three-story frame had no windows - or even a stairway to make the top floors usable.

Now, a nearly 3-1/2 year, $700,000 renovation of the historic structure - built in 1890 for George Ranney, a Lansing philanthropist and acclaimed doctor - has put the entire building back to use.

"People get excited when they come in here," said developer Shawn Elliott, who led the restoration. "It's an heirloom. It shouldn't be lost."

At only 24 feet wide, it might be easy to overlook the downtown building.

But it's only one of two surviving red stone Romanesque buildings in Lansing, historic preservation consultant Robert Morris wrote in a report for the city about its historical significance.

"The building itself is extremely significant," Morris said.

The architectural style is known for its use of arches, columns and towers. The other survivor is Central United Methodist Church at Capitol Avenue and Ottawa Street. Lansing's old post office and City Hall also were in the same style.

The Ranney Building's first 50 years were spent housing doctors' offices, including for Ranney, a decorated Civil War veteran who bought the lot in 1883 from the state.

The site and surrounding block previously had been home to the first Capitol building in Lansing.

Elliott and his crew began restoring the building in 2005, stripping the metal panels off the front.

Elliott was able to buy salvaged Lake Superior red sandstone from a razed YMCA building in Duluth, Minn., to repair the damaged facade. The original rock had been shipped to Lansing from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, via freighter and horses.

The interior - sealed in the 1920s when the stairwell to the second floor was removed - has been left largely intact. The names of the last doctors to work there remain on interior doors. Large oak pocket doors remained tucked neatly into the walls.

The oak woodwork just needed linseed oil polish, and the ornate porcelain floor tiles were cleaned and sealed.

"It's one of those things ... you hear about in an urban legend," Morris said. "It's extremely unusual."

Elliott said he originally hoped to find an office tenant who could take the upper floors of the building, fearing any other use might require the original floor plan to be divided. The first floor is home to a Menna's Joint restaurant.

But an office user never developed. Instead, Elliott, who owns several other downtown buildings, decided to turn the upper floors into loft apartments.

Work on those units recently wrapped up.

Unlike most other downtown lofts, each bedroom is rented individually. Each floor has five bedrooms and a central living and kitchen space. Rooms will rent for $500 to $600 each, Elliott said.

The layout allowed for the interior to remain largely in its original form.

"If you find something like this not all chopped up and destroyed, you owe it to the community to preserve it," Elliott said.