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New Yard On The Block

Muhammad Mahdi Karim via Wikimedia Commons

The developer of an apartment complex in Tallahassee’s All Saints neighborhood wants to take the district back to its industrial roots.

Freight Yard Apartments developer Paul Bradshaw is building the apartments out of shipping containers. He says the apartments are meant to put the emphasis back on the culture of the area—and to stand in contrast to the mass-produced buildings now lining Gaines Street.

Bradshaw owns Blue Dog Investments. He said the vision behind the apartments is to capture what’s best about the district, and amplify those qualities.

“If you look at what’s really cool about All Saints—its history as an industrial area of Tallahassee,” he said. “It’s got a great art scene currently, it’s got festivals, and it’s got a real sense of community. You try to protect that and grow it over time.”

Bradshaw believes the area is one of the most “walkable” neighborhoods in Tallahassee. The planned site of Freight Yard will be a five minute walk from both Florida A&M and Florida State University campuses, state offices, bars, restaurants, nighttime venues, and a new Publix.

Many who believe in keeping All Saints “odd” believe the development will be an “anti-gentrification tool” against development from College Town.

Bradshaw says the Yard, to a certain degree, may stop the pattern of development in the area. The apartments will be more consistent with the current style of All Saints and Railroad Square.

“I don’t know that it’s anti-gentrification,” said Bradshaw. “But it definitely puts a line in the sand that says what’s going to be built in that area is going to really reflect the gritty industrial roots of that area.”

Bradshaw is excited to provide housing that is environmentally conscious in the bohemian styled, art driven area. The complex will be built and decorated with recycled, reclaimed, and adaptive-use materials.

The shipping containers, he says, “are energy efficient, look cool, last forever, require zero maintenance on the exterior, and are relatively inexpensive to put on a foundation.”

He says he’s hoping to get the project approved soon and begin building in October.

The project will be where businesses like Crepe Vine, Side Bar Theatre, and All Saints Café currently stand. Bradshaw says the complex will also have retail space, and will be offered at a discount to the current businesses.

“[The area has] a very distinct character and I would not want to see that go away.”