big downtown el paso building renovation project nearing launch

Work could begin later this spring on the $18 million upgrading of a fourteen-story, 220,000 square foot office building originally put up in the mid-1960s.

Located at 300 E. Main Street, the structure was purchased by the El Paso-based Esperanto Developments with plans to transform it into an 80-unit apartment building with up to 12,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor.

Plans also call for the creation of shared work spaces on several of the building’s floors, as well as a botanical garden, which will be connected to the next-door Hotel Indigo.

That hotel, built in 1963, was redeveloped four years ago by Esperanto.

The project, one of the largest upgrades of an existing downtown El Paso high-rise in recent years, is expected to receive up to $3.6 million in both city and county tax rebates.

The 80 one- and two-bedroom apartments will range in size from 700 to 1,000 square feet, with new windows and balconies added to the structure.
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A project in the talking stage now for several months, work on the upgrading and repurposing could be completed by no later than the summer of next year.

​By Garry Boulard

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