If plans to transform up to five large downtown buildings into residential spaces — along with construction of new residential property — come to fruition, the area could see a surge in the number of downtown residents. And it’s a possibility for which Vicksburg officials are preparing.

“We’re at 100 percent occupancy downtown,” Mayor Laurence Leyens said.

“We have people every day calling and looking for space. Average rent downtown is higher than a mortgage, because what people are doing is different.”

The five buildings slated for conversion — some for a long time and some only recently announced — include the former Downtown YMCA, The Aeolian apartments, the former Carr school, The Valley department store building and the building serving as the main local office of Trustmark National Bank. They are some of the largest buildings in the city and, for the most part, have been vacant.

New construction of residential units is planned on vacant land on Washington between Jackson and Grove.

Not on the residential list, but also slated for conversion is the U.S. Post Office building on Crawford Street, which is to become an upscale hotel.

Leyens’ family, long involved in downtown commerce, created Valley Dry Goods in 1881. The family corporation sold that six-story structure at Washington and South streets in June.

The mayor said doesn’t think the market will become saturated, a belief shared by the new owner of the Valley, Kayvon Agahnia, who plans to create 20 furnished corporate apartments.

“There’s much more market growth available,” Leyens said. “I’m optimistic about the continued growth.”

Last week, crews from the city’s landscaping department prepared to install two Dogi Pots, stations where apartment-dwellers walking dogs can dispose of pet waste. Rosalie Theobald, director of Vicksburg Main Street, the organization charged with promoting the city’s special taxing district, said adding the stations is just one way the group is preparing for the wave of people expected to move downtown in the next couple of years.

So far, about 25 people live downtown — mostly in upper-level spaces above retail stores. Theobald said Main Street works with merchants and residents to create a “harmonious” atmosphere downtown. With developments under way, downtown’s residential population could at least double, she and others have indicated.

“We’re always trying to make downtown resident-friendly. We’d like to put in dog runs — a happy meeting place for dogs — or water fountains for people with pets,” she said. “It’s all a part of working together. If we’re going to have people living in harmony — merchants, downtown residents, pets, tourists — we need to stay on top of it.”

The downtown migration began in Vicksburg soon after the 2001 downtown revitalization for which the city used about a third of a $17.5 million in bonds. Some of the money went to new paving, landscaping, lighting and signs along several blocks of the city’s main downtown street. Some went to buying out owners of 48 properties and reselling them far below market value to investors who were given a certain amount of time to renovate and add value. More of the bond money went to a park and splash fountain at City Front. Ongoing projects there include a Corps of Engineers Interpretive Center, a Junior Auxiliary-funded playground to be built next month and a transportation museum.

One of the first merchants in the area to offer the upstairs apartments after the downtown makeover was Karen Ruggles, owner of The Cinnamon Tree, who began renting four apartments in 2005.

“She was one of the first to take the plunge and, when she did, people were calling wanting occupancy before it was available,” Theobald said. “There’s a great demand. She doesn’t have a problem. If somebody moves out, somebody’s moving right back in.”

She believes the move back downtown is a trend that Vicksburg is ready to accommodate.

“I think the pendulum has kind of swung back from the urban sprawl of the ’70s,” she said. “Now, time is such a commodity. It’s time and convenience.”

With the possibility of another nuclear reactor being built at Entergy’s Grand Gulf site in Port Gibson, the expected growth could definitely be met with the proposed high-end apartments and condos, said Christi Kilroy, director of the Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce. The need for retirement development has been an issue the Chamber has been working to solve.

In 2007, Pam Smith, director of retirement development, sent out 500 or more packets in response to inquiries about retirement living, Kilroy said. Most of what people are looking for are homes with zero lot lines, which don’t require lawn care, and condos. As long as the area stays safe, Kilroy said, downtown provides the perfect option for retirement-aged residents.

Realtor Harley Caldwell said she has done research over the past three years determining the likelihood of people moving downtown.

“It’s a tremendous demand,” she said. “There’s a real excitement and energy about being able to eat and go to a bar, gallery or shop and then home.”

If downtown residential projects move forward, Theobald believes the area could need a positive in services.

“I think other things will evolve from this. Once more residentials come in, we’re going to have to have more of a deli, if not a grocery store, and a satellite cleaners,” she said. “When you get residential, the service end will start to dictate and the people are there to support it.”

She said downtown will be full of opportunity.

“I hope that the heart of the community could come back like it was in the early years — a place that not only locals, but tourists can enjoy,” she said. “Downtown is going to be a destination with a wonderful blend of people living downtown and tourists all having a 24-hour presence.

The Townhomes

Washington and Grove

Caldwell is involved in a project to develop the area along Washington Street between Grove and Jackson streets into downtown residential spaces. A group of five local residents, formally called WMHS Downtown LLC, purchased the vacant lot in April 2006 from the city for $5,000. Because the sale was part of the city’s urban renewal program, the group committed to invest a minimum of $600,000 into the project that is expected to provide housing for residents who are young and young at heart, Caldwell said. At least five brick, two-story buildings, which will sell for between $250,000 and $300,000, are planned for the site with more to be built as demand increases, Caldwell said.

“We believe the demand is there,” she said. “We think we can accommodate about 18 townhomes.”

WMHS, which, in addition to Caldwell, includes local builder Johnny Sanders, brothers Cooper and Bob Morrison III and attorney John Wheeless, scaled down original plans and will offer smaller units, a plan that Caldwell said better fulfills what people seem to desire in downtown living.

“We determined the market for downtown is typically younger and what they want is not a tremendous amount of square footage,” she said. “What people really want, though, is a presence downtown.”

The Valley

1421 Washington St.

Exterior work on the former department store has been completed and construction on the apartments and retail space is expected to begin by April 15, Leyens said earlier this week.

Plans are to build high-end apartments on the third, fourth and fifth floors with the first and second floors devoted to retail. The apartments, which will include granite and marble finishes and will come furnished, will likely be rented to corporate guests, such as out-of-town U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employees, who are here for three, six and 12 months at a time, Leyens said. If Grand Gulf gets the go-ahead, the new living space could accommodate some of the 3,500 employees expected to roll into town.

“They will provide an excellent quality of life,” Leyens said of the project. He has no financial interest.

Trustmark

1301 Washington St.

Trustmark, another building that has been a downtown mainstay with a rich history, will also see its first sign of residential life once work is under way to fill most of the eight stories with apartments.

The building was purchased in December by First National LLC, a group that also owns the Park Residences at Bienville and the Bienville Apartments on South Frontage Road, which began leasing last March.

The 102-year-old, bank building, known for housing what was First National Bank, was once filled with offices of doctors, lawyers, dentists and insurance companies, making it the hub of downtown activity.

The new owners have said, although the bank will continue to operate on the basement, first floor and part of the second floor through a lease agreement, about 48 to 56 residential spaces — studio and one- and two-bedroom upscale apartments — will be on the middle floors of the building.

Because of its location, Theobald said it would make the perfect spot for downtown living.

“It’s perfect — especially with the parking garage off of Walnut,” she said. “It provides very easy access to office space or apartments. And, there’s an elevator already in there.”

The owners are hoping to receive input from the community as they finalize plans. Because Vicksburg doesn’t currently have studio apartments, Nicole Gilmer, a business and property manager for First National LLC, said the owners would like to find out if that’s something the community would support.

“We want this to be a community effort. This building is tied to so many lives. A lot of people have a connection to it,” she said.

Gilmer believes downtown, already home to several strong businesses, needs more residential offerings.

“Other thriving downtowns have residential — where people come home to downtown in the afternoons,” she said. “We believe in downtown Vicksburg and the community. Downtown is really going places, and we want to be a part of that.”

To offer feedback or make suggestions on what the property should offer, people may call Gilmer at 601-415-8341, she said. “We’re really in the planning stages right now where we can still make plans,” she said.

The building, built in 1905 for $300,000 as the bank’s headquarters and commercial offices, could offer residents a communal rooftop terrace, an area that sports one of Vicksburg’s better views of downtown, the Mississippi River and Yazoo Diversion Canal.

First National began in Vicksburg in 1884. Its first office was on the northwest corner of Washington and Crawford streets and later moved to Clay Street east of Washington Street before its owners built the current building.

Carr Building

1805 Cherry St.

Plans are still on for upscale retirement condos to fill what was known to many Vicksburg residents as Carr Central High School and Carr Junior. The 84-year-old building along Cherry Street, an eyesore for years, was purchased by local developer Webber Brewer in May 2007.

Immediately after the purchase, workers went in and cleared out debris that had littered the building since the school closed its doors nearly 30 years ago. Brewer also had the property cleaned, and old, broken windows removed. Because of its status as a Mississippi Landmark and its listing on the National Register, Brewer is awaiting approval from the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

The building, which was used as a school for various grades from 1924 through 1979, was filled with asbestos, which had to be removed. Even though the owner is in a waiting pattern before construction can begin, he said his plans haven’t changed. Because approval is required every step of the way, no plans are set in stone.

What he would like is to restore the auditorium and reception room to be used as common areas for the apartments, he said.

“That’s my goal,” he said. “We’re intending to go ahead with the project.”

The Aeolian

1300 Cherry St.

Another site for possible upscale apartments is an 84-year-old brick building at Clay and Cherry streets, formerly The Aeolian. The building, owned for seven years by Columbus television station owner Frank Imes, was purchased in 2006 by California-based architect Mike Burgess. The current owner announced plans to put 80 units in by the end of that year. Although work has not been done, Leyens recently said he believed the project was still moving forward.

Like the Carr Building, the Aeolian, whose last tenants moved out in 1991, sat desolate for years, with broken windows and a rundown facade that, at one point, put it at risk of demolition. Imes’ purchase saved the building, constructed in 1924 as the city’s first fireproof apartment building. He made some repairs to the 1,046 windows, cleaned the interior and scraped paint. Imes’ plans were halted and, eventually, he sold.

Theobald said, even though Imes’ plan wasn’t completed, the work made a difference.

“At least it’s not an eyesore,” she said.

YMCA

821 Clay St.

Leyens has said several developers have had their sights set on the former YMCA on Clay Street as a possible hub for residential space. The property, vacant since 2005, has worked its way onto a list of buildings and landmarks identified by the Vicksburg Foundation for Historic Preservation as “endangered” and worth saving. It offers amenities — a swimming pool, basketball court and meeting rooms — Nancy Bell, director of VFHP, has said would make the space easy to convert into an apartment complex or hotel.

The building, built in 1923, served as the city’s main Y until a new facility was built off East Clay Street in 2002. At that time, the old building was sold to Nashville architect T. Michael Hayes, who announced plans to convert the building into 27 one- and two-bedroom condominiums for retirees.

The building, however, has remained vacant, with few signs of construction. It was occupied by Keystone Ministries, a group that assists male offenders in the transition from crime and drugs to a positive life, beginning in 2004 with plans that included converting it into a shelter. The plan was abandoned because the group was unable to make improvements required by the city’s inspection department.