Ask MRN: What’s going to happen at former site of Tri-State Furniture?

Dear MRN,

Now that the hole is filled in behind Tiramisu, what is going to happen with that piece of property?

Nothing, for now.

The former Tri-State Furniture and Appliances building at 312 Hampshire, formerly owned by Richard and Judith Taylor, was bought Sept. 30, 2021, by DP Properties of Quincy LLC, owned by Derek Price. The building was demolished earlier this summer.

“We wanted to clean up this area, and we looked at trying to keep the building,” Price said. “However, it just wasn’t structurally something I wanted to invest in. We’ve done a lot of buildings down here and fixed a lot of things, but this one wasn’t worth fixing. So we went ahead, took it down, kind of cleaned it up and made it look nice. 

“Maybe in a few years, we’ll try to build something here. What exactly that is, I’m not 100 percent sure yet. For a couple of years, it’ll be just gravel, and we’ll use that in different capacities. I was talking to a buddy about different ideas for how we could use it. As an investor, you throw a bunch of ideas at a board, then you kind of see what really sticks. That’s the phase I’m at. If I own a property, I want it to make money for us and be good for the community.”

He also said he might allow food trucks to set up on the site to cater to downtown workers looking for a place to get lunch.

Price is busy enough with other projects in the same city block.

His office for DP Construction of Quincy, Inc., a commercial and residential general contractor, is at 123 N. Fourth, only a few steps from the demolished building. 

He bought the former Quincy Plumbing and Heating Distributors building at the corner of Third and Maine in July 2021. His View21 project is under way, as the building is being converted into commercial retail space for lease on the first floor, commercial space for purchase on the second floor, one- to three-bedroom apartments for lease on the third floor and lofts for purchase on the fourth floor.

Price said 12 apartments are framed up on the third floor, and commercial spaces on the second floor soon will be available for purchase. 

Work on what Price called the “common elements” — hallways, elevators, stairs — has started and will continue until the spring when the first people will start moving in.

“There’s a lot going on inside that people can’t really tell,” Price said. “Brinkman (Plumbing Contractors) is putting in pipes throughout the whole building. Peters (Heating and Air Conditioning) has put in a lot of heating and air units in there … things like that.”

The fourth-floor lofts, which range from 2,220 square feet to 3,330 square feet, and second-floor commercial spaces now are for sale. Price says he has received interest in both.

“They have a killer view,” Price said. “What you buy the space for and what we could build it out for, I can’t build you a house to that same caliber. Not even close to that. That’s been one thing that’s been kind of fun to do.

“Our focus now is View21. Then we’ll work on (the empty lot).”