Construction on former Riverside Apartments could be done in 12-14 months

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - The Old Town building formerly known as the Riverside Apartments, located at 729 W Center St., is expected to have renovation and construction completed in the next 14 months.

Chris Petersen of CP Integrity Construction said they plan to spend another two months on demolition and then construction should take about a year.

The century-old building, which is currently configured for 49 apartments, is being renovated to offer 28 one, two and three-bedroom apartments.

During the current demolition process, Petersen said they've hauled out four "semi-loads" of debris and garbage.

"We won't remove any walls," Petersen said of the next phase. "We will do all the demo on the trim and the doors and then we'll go through with our teams and we'll do flood cuts on everything."

Crews are also working on collapsed roofs, plumbing and electricity.

"At that point, it's a pretty quick put together process with the final cosmetics," Petersen explained.

New paint, bathrooms, kitchens and flooring are included in those "final cosmetics."

"So everything will be brand new when you walk in. It'll smell fresh and clean," he said.

Petersen estimates that the final construction costs will be around $1.5 million.

Since the building was built before 1978, the immediate next step is to remove all of the trim, doors and windows that crews believe may contain lead paint.

"Everything will be bagged, hauled off and that gets rid of all the lead," he said."

There's still a lot of work to be done, but Petersen said the community has already given him a lot of positive feedback.

"They love seeing the progress," he said.

When completed, the building will also have a new roof, new exterior doors and a new coat of paint on the bricks.