GARY -- After more than a decade of broken promises, the shell of an abandoned but historic downtown landmark is getting a rapid interior facelift, and the man leading the work still says new homes will be available there this spring.
"The quality of the apartment homes we're delivering, I think, is going to be well-received and will surprise a lot of people," Lance Swank said, standing on one of the top floors of Gary's Dalton Arms building in the 100 block of East 5th Avenue.
Swank is the chief operating officer of Mishawaka-based Sterling Group of Companies. The Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority recruited his company in July to help revive and finish a renovation of the Dalton by fall 2011, funding it with $9.4 million in tax credits.
There have been several unsuccessful attempts to renovate the Dalton. Businessman Bill Harrington said he would open it in 1999 but never did. Florida-based Gary Progress Development's Shawn Loyden took on the project in 2003, but the Art Deco building remained an empty eyesore years later.
Federal agents even sought records from City Hall this year about public money invested in the project.
But this summer, a Gary board gave Swank and his father, Larry Swank, the green light to partner with Loyden's Gary Progress Development under the name Dalton Apartments LLC. Within weeks, workers arrived at the site, and they now seem to be heading toward an early finish. Gary residents might find cause for cautious optimism in their progress.
"We'll have product ready to be delivered in the spring," Swank said.
Though there's still a lot of work to do, much has been done. The goal is to make 57 affordable housing apartment units available in the seven-floor "tower" and the three-story "modern building" attached to its east side. Swank said the agreement to work on the building wasn't final until September. When crews came inside, they found it full of trash.
"It took weeks just to clean the building out," Swank said.
Swank took the Post-Tribune on a tour of the Dalton earlier this month.
Workers are taking a top-down approach to the renovation.
Drywall is up on the sixth and seventh floors. The floors below aren't quite as far along, but electrical systems and insulation have been installed.
Some windows need to be added, but Swank pointed toward 5th Avenue from the top floor and boasted of the views for future residents. He said he even sought, unsuccessfully, a clear view of the field at the U.S. Steel Yard baseball stadium.
"No, I've checked it out," Swank said. "I was hoping. It'd be pretty cool."
Legacy saved
Also known once as Gary's Standard Liquors building, Post-Tribune archives show the Dalton was constructed in 1928 for $535,000 for Joseph and William Dalton of the Dalton Coal Co.
Many historic features of the building are being preserved, Swank said.
A large arched doorway on 5th Avenue will serve as the main entrance, he said, and the first floor will be leased out as business space.
"We don't have anyone lined up at this point," Swank said of the commercial area. "We're really focusing on the residential part."
The residential part will be key to the building's success, even if it's fully renovated. Swank said the construction has prompted more than 50 people to contact his company and ask about the building. Meanwhile, he said, less than a dozen applications have been received. He said most people want to come in and "kick the tires" of a fully renovated unit before applying.
Access restricted
All residents will undergo criminal and credit checks, Swank said. There will be secured access into the building once residents move in.
Swank also said armed private security is guarding the building during renovation so electrical wiring and other valuables are protected.
Finally, Swank said his company cooperated when contacted by the FBI this year. Swank and others have said federal agents seem to be tracking how Gary Progress Development spent a $2.9 million loan from the city's Community Development department and a $2.5 million loan from the Gary-East Chicago-Hammond Empowerment Zone.
That money was spent before Swank's company joined the project.
"We've been assured that this has nothing to do with the current activities," Swank said in October when asked about the investigation. "There are no issues concerning future funding."
The deadline to finish work at the Dalton is September 2011, according to a deal approved at Gary City Hall.
Along with finishing the apartments, installing an elevator and generally making the building suitable to live in, Swank said amenities planned for the basement need to be finished. They include exercise, laundry and community rooms.
Randy Fischer, the project's superintendent, said cooperation from Gary City Hall has been key to the speed of the project.
Swank said city inspectors check the building regularly, along with the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority, which walks through about once a month.
"Our goal here is to produce this thing on schedule or ahead of schedule," Fischer said.