St. Catherine's renovation underway

Friday, October 30, 2015
A building located just to the west of the former St. Catherine's Apartments building on West Fourth Street is anticipated to be ready for tenants in the coming weeks. (Bruce Baker/McCook Gazette)

McCOOK, Neb. -- The St. Catherine's Apartments building may not be ready for tenants any time soon but an outbuilding on the property could be welcoming its first resident in the coming weeks. Property owner John Smith of McCook said he hopes to have three rental units in the smaller building to the west of the former hospital ready for tenants in a month-and-a-half.

Smith acquired the approximate city block sized property and massive former hospital structure during a Sheriff's sale at the Red Willow County Courthouse last spring. The property was foreclosed on, in addition to being declared unsafe by the local health board, and sold for $16,500. Smith said at the time he planned to renovate the building into apartments and has been working towards that goal ever since.

Renovating the defunct main building into residential units isn't as overwhelming as one might expect, according to Smith, who said Wednesday he just focuses on one project at a time.

John Smith of McCook shares his vision for the former St. Catherine's hospital building Wednesday afternoon. (Bruce Baker/McCook Gazette)

"It turned into a whole bunch of little projects, which really helps," he said while giving a tour of the building to the Gazette.

The main building still has a long ways to go before it is tenant ready but Smith hopes to have the three units in the outbuilding ready for occupants in less than two months. His plan is to rent out those units and then prepare two units in the main building. As co-owners of the property John and his mother, Bev Smith, intend to be the first two tenants residing in the main building.

Smith said, as owners, they could live in the main building while repair work was being done but other work would need to be completed before tenants could be moved in.

Installing a new fire suppression sprinkler system in the main building is anticipated to be one of the larger expenses for the project. Smith said fire safety requirements take into consideration shared entrance and exit points for tenants, which will initially restrict him to apartments that have their own exterior entrance. Smith said eight apartment units at the complex have their own entrance and once those units were occupied he would use the resulting revenue to cover the expense of installing the sprinkler system for the rest of the building.

Smith is doing much of the repair work himself, aside from electrical and plumbing work. He said he has kept members of the McCook Board of Health updated on his progress and indicated they have been very helpful and informative.

City staff boarded up lower level windows and doors at the property in May of 2013 after the health board designated the building unsafe. At the time, health board members touring the facility also raised concerns about the condition of the roof.

Smith said he thinks the roof is now repaired but added he wouldn't really know for sure until the next rainfall.

After completion of the renovation work, the property is estimated to provide a total of 45 apartment units, varying in size and ranging from smaller one-bedroom studios to three-bedroom units. Rent is anticipated to be in the $400 to $500 range, and lower for the studio apartments, with internet access and water provided. Each unit will be fitted with electric heating, according to Smith.

Although a timetable isn't available for completion of the main building, the 45 residential units would rank as one of the more successful private efforts in combating McCook's housing shortage. Economic development officials claim the city will need nearly 300 housing units in the next 10 years to meet demand.

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