A developer who has restored old businesses elsewhere in the state hopes to do the same for the old Iola Nursing Center facility.
Rocky Meo of Meo Development Co. LLP, De Soto, has applied for a zoning variance that would allow him to convert the former nursing home and residential care center at 1336 N. Walnut St. into an apartment complex.
Meo envisions a 46-unit complex, filled with one- and two-bedroom apartments.
“We heard about it and looked into it,” Meo told the Register Monday. “The long-range goal is to turn it into living quarters for folks.”
Meo’s company has refurbished old buildings before, he said, usually for businesses.
“I haven’t done a multi-family dwelling in the past, but I’ve done other commercial projects” in both Kansas and Missouri, Meo said.
The apartment complex would not be designated for low- or moderate-income renters, Meo noted. Rent would be dictated by the open market.
“It’s not subsidized,” he said.
IN ORDER TO renovate the building for an apartment complex, Meo must first get a zoning variance from the city, reclassifying the property from its current listing as a single-family property to a multi-family property.
A hearing is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 18, at the Riverside Park Community Building in front of the Iola Planning Commission. The public is invited.
The Planning Commission will either endorse or recommend against the zoning variance, with the final decision resting with the Iola City Council.
THE RENOVATION would be extensive, Meo said.
“It’s in bad condition,” he said. “We would take it back to its four exterior walls, and come back and rebuild the interior spaces.”
The buildings would have a new roof, new climate control and electric systems, new plumbing and a new parking lot, he said.
Meo declined to give a timeline.
“We don’t want to rush into it and find ourselves pressed for time,” he said. “We want to do it right, to do everything according to code. Sometimes that takes time.”
The scope of the project “is not an issue for us,” he added. “We’ll be able to handle it. It’s not overwhelming at all.”
