The Urbana City Council during a February 21 regular meeting approved a resolution to support redevelopment of the former Willman Furniture building in the 200 block of North Main Street near the downtown.

Jamon Sellman, who is currently revitalizing another downtown Urbana building for new use, purchased the former Willman building earlier this month for $255,000. The long-time furniture store owned by the Fannin family closed its doors in 2022.

Project architect Sarah Mackert presented the plans for the Willman building to council during Tuesday night’s regular meeting, seeking local government support to apply for state grants and incentives centered around the building’s historical significance and potential economic growth.

The council voted to approve moving forward so the developers, Willman Sellman Improvements LLC, can apply for the JobsOhio Vibrant Communities Program and the Ohio Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program during the next available phase. A state decision on whether the incentives are awarded could come as early as June and the project could begin as early as August with a projected completion date of at least 12 months after construction begins.

Sellman said the state grants are crucial to the project’s viability.

The plan includes creating a hybrid use for the structure, with nine residential units on the upper floors and a business incubation and co-working space on the first floor to foster economic growth. Mackert said the co-working space will encourage talent and creativity. The project developers plan to “hand pick” who is part of the space and “curate the culture,” with a goal of ultimately hosting workshops for various types of educational needs in the local economy.

The redeveloped building will have a new elevator for enhanced access to the upper residential floors, which will be finished prior to the street level co-working space. The residential areas in the upstairs would join several others in the works downtown, including the Skylight Lofts under redevelopment by David Smith, located just north of the Willman building, and the Urbana Lofts being developed by Sellman on Monument Square. Sellman said the units in the Willman building will be larger than the Urbana Lofts in his Monument Square building, currently under redevelopment.

Plans also focus on keeping the key parts of the vintage neon Willman sign intact, if feasible.

Other items

The council also approved a step forward regarding the Dugan Place subdivision planned behind the Urbana Walmart. Called the Dugan Place Incentive District, the ordinance delineates an overlay and adopts a written economic development plan in compliance with Ohio Revised Code.

Additionally, council heard a suggestion for the city to prepare for an abundance of tourists to converge on Champaign County when a total solar eclipse occurs on April 8, 2024. The county is part of a 124-mile-wide band in the state of Ohio that will experience a total solar eclipse, while other parts of the state will experience only a partial eclipse.

Discussion of the preparations recounted the local disruption caused in Kentucky during 2017 when that area was in the path of a solar eclipse. The activity included jammed rural roadways filled with visitors angling for views of the 2017 eclipse.