Demolition work at Price Florist began Saturday and could be completed Monday.
Workers began demolishing Price Florist on Oak Ridge Turnpike on Saturday and could finish the job on Monday.
The work at the longtime floral business in central Oak Ridge is being done by Perkins Trucking and Excavating of Knoxville.
Tony Cappiello of Capiello Real Estate said one of his family’s companies purchased the 0.43-acre property about a month ago for $216,000. He said the seller agreed to demolish the property at her expense since it had been condemned by the City of Oak Ridge.
Cappiello said the property is about as large as the Subway down the street.
“So, whatever tenant eventually leases the property will presumably occupy about the same size building (1,800-2,000 square feet),” Cappiello said in a Sunday evening e-mail. “We are in negotiations with a number of tenants, but nothing has been finalized at this point.”
The Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals had ordered the demolition of the building as recently as September, and members had considered whether to issue a demolition or repair order for the once-thriving business in several other meetings last year. They gave the previous owner, Patricia Warren of Crossville, several extensions to allow her time to come back with a sales contract, repair plan, or demolition permit.
Last year, a city board declared Price Florist on Oak Ridge Turnpike a nuisance and unfit for human occupation and use, and members had ordered the demolition of the building as recently as September.
During those board meetings, Warren said she had cleaned up the property and had hoped to sell it. She had told board members she had three potential buyers.
Warren sold the Price Florist business about four years ago but still owned the property. Earlier in 2013, she told board members she wasn’t aware of the poor conditions there. The city staff had said the building was in severe disrepair, citing fire code violations, a leaking roof, electrical hazards, plumbing issues, and broken concrete floors, among other things.
In June, the board declared the building a nuisance and unfit for human occupation or use.
Cappiello said Price Florist was an institution in Oak Ridge, and the various owners over the years have served the community for several generations.
“I was sorry to see it close last year,” Cappiello said. “I have sentimental attachment to old buildings and try to save them when I can. However, the building was in such disrepair, with the roof collapsing some time ago and water freely entering the building, there was really nothing to preserve.”
Price Florist was started by the Price family in the early 1950s, and Warren and her ex-husband bought it in the late 1970s.
Note: This story was updated at 10:45 p.m.
Jason Allison says
Makes me wonder where Cappiello hands are. Seems they are the first ones to jump on the city’s demo order sites?
johnhuotari says
Jason,
The previous owner had told me that several companies had expressed interest in the property. I have talked to another local business that had considered purchasing the Price Florist site to move from another location in Oak Ridge, but it sounded like they just weren’t able to work out a deal with the previous owner.
John
Joshua Hamilton says
They sure got that one out of the way a LOT quicker than the ole Ray Adcox Chevrolet building LOL.
Philip W Nipper says
Not true at all. Most of the demo orders issued by the Board of Building and Code Appeals are for residential properties. To my knowledge this was the first commercial property the board has taken demo action on in some time. Mr. Cappiello is mainly concerned with commercial properties not residential. As a Building and Code Appeals Board member I applaud Mr. Cappiello and others like him in the community who step up to the plate to make a difference in our city.
Joshua Hamilton says
I wonder what that building started life out as?
johnhuotari says
According to state records, the building was built in 1955, which is about the time the Price family is reported to have started Price Florist. But I don’t have information on whether the family started the business in this building, or started elsewhere and then moved here at some point.