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Downtown Bainbridge is seeing yet more growth, this time thanks to one resident breathing new life into a forgotten property. The old warehouse that sits on the corner of Calhoun Street and North Broad Street, next door to the Inland gas station, has sat abandoned for several years. The building has served several purposes over the years; it was originally a rail shipping warehouse, before becoming, among other things, a car dealership and even a realty company.

That’s according to the building’s current owner, Brent Warr. A Bainbridge native, Warr has had business experience in Atlanta and New York, and has recently opened his own furniture and custom lighting company. While looking for a building, the Calhoun warehouse caught his attention. “I was just looking around out of curiosity, and I drove past the building, which I had never really seen before, and I lived here all my life,” he explained. Upon inspecting the building, the extensive damage it had sustained was immediately apparent. “The entire roof was caving in, so we put a brand new roof on it when I bought it,” Warr continued. “The roof was caving in, but the bones were just great.” According to Warr, had the building been left to sit for just a few more years, it would need to be condemned and demolished. He hopes to retain as much of the building’s original architecture as possible.

With a new roof being put in and much of the old interior having been stripped out, Warr has already moved his own business in, and is looking to make room for other businesses, as well as apartments. “We are currently in the process of converting it to four on the base level… we’re making four commercial/retail spaces, and one potential restaurant space for rent, and then we’ll also have six apartments in here as well.”

Warr expressed enthusiasm at being a part of downtown Bainbridge’s development. “There’s been so much development that’s been going on downtown, and I’m really excited to be the downtown anchor on this side of the downtown as it slowly expands this way.”

The retail spaces are expected to be completed by the beginning of October, while the apartments are slated for completion in February of next year.