Three historic buildings in downtown Gainesville received a second chance at life last week after the Holy Trinity Episcopal Foundation (HTEF) backtracked on demolition and sold the deteriorated properties to new owners. 

On July 1, Scott Shillington and Hal Mendez purchased the buildings at 101, 103 and 113 N. Main St. for $1.2 million from HTEF, an organization of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church (100 NE 1st St.), under Robocorps LLC.  

Shillington and Mendez own nearly a dozen other local properties, including The Top, The Wooly Events, The Atlantic, Pop-A-Top, The Dime and The Florida Room. 

HTEF President Brian Gendreau stated that the buyers made a $400,000 down payment, and the church provided owner financing at an annual interest rate of 7%. He noted that even though the church is taking a risk with the financing, they believe Shillington and Mendez have a track record that they can trust. 

“This is a desired outcome,” Gendreau said. “This is one we’re very happy with and we’re glad to see it go through.” 

The church acquired the buildings, which date back to 1879 and early 20th century, between 2001 and 2014. Gendreau said the process of looking to get rid of the properties rife with asbestos, termites and dry rot started roughly three years ago.  

HTEF hired a firm that surveyed around 10 developers in the Southeast for interest in buying and developing the properties. It estimated it would take $1 million to restore some of the buildings, as opposed to $288,000 to demolish.

Even though Gendreau said the church would’ve sold the properties for $1 if they could’ve, no one showed interest in buying and the church planned to demolish them in June.

Shillington and Mendez said in an emailed statement that they were approached about buying the buildings a year ago, but they were too busy at the time opening The Florida Room brunch restaurant to make the purchase. 

After the church applied for a demolition permit this year for the properties, historic preservation activist Melanie Barr reached out to a high school friend, who is a neighbor of one of the Robocorps’ business partners, for help saving them.

Shillington and Mendez said they started working on a solution with HTEF and the community a few months ago to “save the vintage properties.” 

In April, Barr gave a presentation to showcase the history of the block’s significance in Gainesville and advocate for its preservation.

Residents pressed Gendreau, who attended the presentation, on the church’s reason for buying historic buildings it couldn’t maintain and not making their sale more public before deciding to demolish. Some worried the demolition would continue a trend of the Episcopal Diocese of Florida’s buying property only to tear it down for investment, such as with St. Michael’s Episcopal Parish (4315 NW 23rd Ave.). 

Gendreau said HTEF bought the properties as an investment and that’s what they’ve been. He said the money from the sale of the buildings will be used for maintenance of the church’s existing sanctuary and offices.  

“We hope people realize that we think this is a desirable outcome,” he said. “If the buyer is able to preserve the buildings then power to them. Why would we have a negative view on that?”

Barr said in an email to supporters of the preservation this week that the saved buildings could not have found more perfect owners.  

“When I reached out for help, you responded,” she said. “Thank you to everyone who wrote letters or sent emails to [HTEF]. I truly believe your advocacy changed the trajectory from demolition to preservation.” 

According to the sale’s deed, HTEF lists conditions that the buildings may not be used for certain activities such as the sale or distribution of alcohol or medical marijuana, religious assembly, tattoos or piercings, parking, child daycare, farmer’s markets or food trucks. 

Shillington and Mendez said their property and leasing company, Cardinal Workspaces, is on a timeline to get the buildings ready for new merchants that can directly impact the future health of downtown Gainesville.  

“Each building will endure its own barrage of cleaning, painting, facade work, woodworking, electrical, and plumbing hurdles to come to fruition,” Shillington and Mendez said. “We will register the two old houses for historic status to ensure they will be preserved for many years to come.”