The Wilcox, located at 230 S. Broadway Ave. in Tyler, was first put into service on March 22, 1956 as the Cooperative Savings and Loan Association Building and was designed by world renowned architect E. Davis Wilcox. A developer is proceeding with work to convert the building into an apartment complex. It is expected to be complete in 2024. (Santana Wood/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

Renovations to a historic downtown Tyler building are underway.

NORF Companies, a New Orleans-based tax-advantaged real estate company, this week announced it closed on financing and has secured the necessary permits to proceed with work on 230 S. Broadway Avenue in Tyler, also known as The Wilcox.

The building will be converted into an apartment complex. To celebrate the project, a groundbreaking ceremony will be held at 3 p.m. Thursday, March 30.

The Wilcox was first put into service on March 22, 1956 as the Cooperative Savings and Loan Association Building. It was designed by world-renowned architect E. Davis Wilcox.

NORF will convert the steel and concrete building into 31 market-rate apartments, which will be called The Wilcox. The Wilcox will highlight the building’s mid-century modern design and will include a green space along the former bank’s drive-thru.

NORF anticipates completing The Wilcox project in early 2024.

NORF has focused on historic redevelopment projects to preserve a building’s cultural appeal as well as to reduce environmental waste, according to NORF’s Managing Director Cullan Maumus.

“We are happy to be adding high quality new housing at affordable pricing to the Tyler market. Tyler’s current and anticipated growth will continue to require additional housing opportunities and NORF is hard at work on three other local Tyler projects,” he said.

Last year, NORF purchased The Fair and The Lindsey, two other historic buildings on South Broadway within a block of The Wilcox. The Lindsey will also be renovated into mixed-use/multi-family rental units. NORF intends to remodel areas of The Fair and will continue to operate it as office space as it looks for a tenant for the ground floor retail space.

The Lindsey was built in 1945 and is located at 123 S Broadway Ave. The Fair was built in 1949 and is located at 115 S. Broadway Ave., according to the Texas downtown historic property listings website.

Another part of NORF’s footprint in the Tyler market include its existing plans to renovate the former Carlton Hotel, 106 E. Elm St., which closed last September and is currently in design and undergoing interior demolition and abatement, according to NORF. In its prime, the Carlton was a 115,000-square-foot, upscale hotel with a three-story parking garage, rooftop swimming pool and a cabana.

Maumus previously said Tyler is a great city in growth mode, part of the company’s reasons to invest in the city.

“The valuations we have been seeing in Tyler for quality buildings, some already in service, have only been one factor in our multiple acquisitions here, but certainly not the only driver,” Maumus said. “Spending time here, the vibe is infectious. City leaders proudly champion opportunity while entrepreneurs and professionals have bought into a shared vision. We are excited to participate in this undeniably special time in Tyler’s history.”

Maumus said NORF is looking forward to returning its recently acquired historic buildings “to their former vibrance and make them a part of Tyler’s future.”

The renovation of the Lindsey, Fair and Wilcox are part of NORF’s national strategy to improve communities by redeveloping historic buildings and revitalizing blighted neighborhoods while generating compelling risk-adjusted returns for investors.

The projects will make use of Qualified Opportunity Zone Fund tax benefits, Federal and State Historic Tax Credits, and potentially New Markets Tax Credits. Qualified Opportunity Zones are state-designated areas known to be underdeveloped and in need of economic expansion through redevelopment or job growth, according to NORF.