By Cindy Schroeder
The Cincinnati Enquirer

COVINGTON - A Cincinnati-based development group hopes to convert a nearly vacant downtown Covington landmark into loft apartments and retail space with the help of a $250,000 state grant and a $200,000 city loan.

Covington City Commission agreed Tuesday to apply for a Renaissance Kentucky grant to help finance the $1.9 million renovation of the Mutual Fire Insurance Co. building. The 86-year-old building occupies most of a block on Madison Avenue and part of west Pike Street. Located in downtown Covington's historic commercial district, it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The city commission also unanimously approved a $200,000 investors rehabilitation loan for developers Gary Vidmar and Rick Jones, partners in the Cincinnati-based Integrity Building Group. The 24-month loan with a fixed 3 percent interest rate is predicated on Integrity Building Group receiving the Renaissance Kentucky grant.

Both the state grant and city loan are necessary for the project to proceed, the developers said.

Eighty-eight Kentucky towns are eligible to compete for $2 million from the Renaissance Kentucky downtown revitalization program. Proposals must be received by Aug. 29, and state officials hope to announce the successful applicants sometime in October."This building is in such a key location right in the heart of it all," said Kathie Hickey, Covington's new downtown Renaissance manager. "There's a need for some very nice market rate housing units downtown."

The project would be the latest in a series of efforts to move development south of Covington's Ohio riverfront along its main street downtown. The Odd Fellows Hall renovation is under way with the help of a Renaissance Kentucky grant.

Hickey predicted the Mutual Fire Insurance Co. building renovation will spur similar projects in downtown Covington.

Integrity Building Group wants to convert the three-story building into eight one-bedroom and four two-bedroom luxury apartments on the second and third floors, complete with the high ceilings and tall windows that loft apartments are known for. Monthly rents would range from $700 to $1,000.

The primary market would be young professionals, both singles and couples, in their late 20s and early 30s who enjoy the convenience of walking to work, the developers said. In the two weeks since Integrity Building Group has put signs on the building advertising loft apartments, the developers said they've received 20 to 30 queries, including from the local art community and recent transfers from New York and Chicago.

"People want to be put on the waiting list," Vidmar said during a break in the meeting. "There's nothing on this scale in the city of Covington."

Potential first-floor tenants would include a restaurant, bank, bookstore or newsstand and a coffee shop, the developers said. The basement, which housed a German restaurant in the 1960s and '70s, also could be converted into commercial space.

The 32,000-square-foot building currently houses a barbershop and an insurance company. Vidmar said the developers are willing to talk with the current tenants if they're interested in staying.

Built in 1917, the triangular building initially housed the Industrial Club of Covington, a precursor to the present-day Chamber of Commerce, said Kate Carothers, Covington's historic preservation and community development specialist.

E-mail cschroeder@enquirer.com