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The former Belk and Bradley buildings in downtown Morristown have a new owner and, combined with adjacent purchases, the historic duo will form a new centralized hub of development in the growing community.

The entire block of buildings intersecting West Main, Cumberland and First North streets, despite the dilapidated state of several of them, caught the eye of David Silverstein, CEO of New York’s Integrated Project Delivery Partners.

Silverstein, who has led the company since 2010, has family that has lived in the Dandridge and Knoxville area for five generations. He founded a business in the area as well.

“I came across the property when I set up that business,” Silverstein said in a recent interview. “I thought, ‘this is a jewel,’ when I saw Main Street. We started looking at it about a year ago and we got a call back several months ago.”

And he has quite a plan – “It’s going to be good. I think you’re going to like this one,” he said.

IPD Partners specializes in renovations, restoration and rehabilitation, and new construction.

“It all started with the Bradley Hardware building,” Silverstein said. “Originally, I was told it was scheduled to be torn down. In my experience I’ve restored a lot worse.”

In conversations with Steve Neilson, Director of Planning for the City of Morristown, Silverstein asked if there was a chance to save the building, which during its recent history had been found to have a hole in one of its floors the approximate size of a Volkswagen car.

Silverstein’s opinion, which he shared with Neilson, is that demolition within the streetscape, especially within a historical district, would be akin to the appearance of the street missing a tooth. A building that can be saved, should be saved.

“Really, it’s a spectacular building,” Silverstein said. “I’m working with city planning now.”

The plan is to create 7 to 9 storefronts and 40-plus residential units within the development that includes the former Hasson-Bryant Hardware, Belk, Cherry Café and Bradley buildings. Although IPD Partners is based in New York, the work will be a local effort.

“I’m working with local contractors,” Silverstein said, adding that company staff serve as construction managers and his plan may include eventually relocating one of the managers to Morristown. Silverstein plans to visit the site once a month.

“I’ve had extensive conversations, with fellow downtown building owners, with Heather Brooks (Director of Downtown Development) from the Morristown Chamber. Everybody has been exceptionally helpful,” he said.

The first step is to stabilize the Bradley building.

“We’re meeting with engineers and working with a local architect to submit plans to the city planning department. Our immediate goal is to stabilize the building and ensure that it is water tight so that no further deteriotion takes place,” he said.

The next step will be to complete the design phases and implementation of the Master Plan that encompasses all four properties.

“We think when we are done, it will be a really nice entry point to Main Street,” Silverstein said.

Silverstein’s plan is not just a solution for the corner that has over a number of years become an eyesore. His vision extends to the entire downtown business district.

“The popularity of Main Streets has fallen over the years and is beginning to come back,” he said. “There are not currently a lot of walkable spaces in Morristown. You go to a location – you pull up, you do your business and you leave. The goal will be – you arrive on Main Street to have an evening. You may not have a particialr destination in mind, but if we can provide enough active restaurants and entertainment, shopping venues, you take a walk and there are things to enjoy.”

Whatever we put in will be done very thoughtfully,” Silverstein added. “We’ll put businesses in there that will complement each other and attract customers. We will build critical mass for the purpose to go somewhere, spend their time outdoors, walking and enjoying that space.

“We’ve had lots of conversations with neighbor landlords. It’s about changing the focus of what you do in the region, how you spend time with friends and family. It’s not just about the single destination. It’s not just icing for our little corner, it’s icing for the entire district. We intend to be a community resource.”

Deb Miller, who formerly owned the Belk and Bradley buildings, along with her parents, Barbara and Robert, said of Silverstein, “You’re going to be very pleased with him. He has a great team in place with good ideas. And they’re going to save the Bradley building. That needs to happen and that makes me feel so good.

“David has been so good to me. He gave me a fair price. He plans on jumping right on it. He told us, ‘I can’t remember being as excited about a project as this one.’ I can’t wait. He’s the real deal.” Miller said.

Miller said Silverstein will allow her to continue to decorate the Belk building windows, an activity that she truly enjoys.

After talking with other downtown business owners, Miller said, “This might be the great awakening that Morristown has been waiting for. They’re ready, you can feel it.”

Miller praised Neilson – “You have a very good city planner right now” and Brooks – “Heather does a great job. She is a big blessing to the downtown, too.”

I appreciate everybody who was so good to me downtown,” Miller said. “They helped me so much. I had no idea what I was doing. I had a lot of questions, made a lot of phone calls. They shoved me in the right direction. Everybody was a big help to me, I really appreciate it.”

The sale was facilitated by Leslie Jo Deardrick, agent/broker with REMAX Real Estate Ten.

“Leslie Jo is the key piece of every bit of it. She went above and beyond to get this done. It was a real ‘Mission Impossible.’ She’s very good at what she does,” Miller said.

Although no longer a building owner, Miller will continue to be a community stakeholder in the district’s future.

“I love Morristown. I fell in love with downtown Morristown. Belk was my happy place. I’d listen to my radio, decorate the windows. If we could have fixed it, we would have. I’m happy the right people have it now. I think it will be great. I’ll still be hanging out downtown, I’m not going anywhere.”

Neilson is anticipating the new development as well.

“We are fortunate to have David,” he said. “He’s got the resources and he’s done this type of development before. He is working with a local architect with a great institutional knowledge of the downtown area.”

The conversations between Neilson and Silverstein go back at least a year.

“He was looking to buy. A gentleman from Maine got an option on the properties and that fell through. We’ve chatted, he asked me to do all I could to prevent the Bradley building from being torn down,” Neilson said. “When he got back in the picture, I was excited. He understands downtown development, he’s got a lot of great ideas.”

Neilson is also of the opinion that the development of the four-building hub has the potential to change the landscape of the entire downtown business district.

“When you add residences to the downtown, that changes it, makes it more of a 24/7 location. When that takes place, there are more opportunities for restaurants and coffee shops that serve earlier and later customers. This could be a really neat thing.

“This could be a really big year for downtown Morristown,” Neilson said.

The work on the IPD Partners project has begun with a clean out of loose materials within the interiors of the buildings.

Other downtown projects include renovations to the building that housed the former Merle Norman retail store and the Hamblen School of Beauty.

1907 Brewing is remodeling its second and third floors to offer the ‘Roosevelt Room,’ a unique entertainment and event venue, anticipated to be completed by late summer.

Randy DeBord recently secured from City Council the closure of a portion of the alley behind the building he is currently renovating, ensuring that he can construct an exterior stairwell to be utilized for future residences.

Cruze Farms has also submitted plans for future improvements, indicating its commitment to the downtown business district.