This one from yesterdays business pages slipped under the radar, but is, in my mind, pretty big stuff. The Professional Services Building on 21st is in for a long overdue face lift:
Hitting the heights
By Peter Wilson,
The StarPhoenixDecember 11, 2009
Orion Morgan is only 29, but after a decade spent constructing homes in the city he felt ready to add a new challenge to his life.
The founder and president of Urban Oasis Homes, Morgan has purchased the former J.H.C. Willoughby Building at 129 21st St. East in Saskatoon's downtown.
It's been more than a year since Morgan put an offer on the building, but he only recently found out his $1.2-million proposal had been accepted.
"I was very happy to hear that I had acquired it. It was a reasonable price and it fits in with my plans and hopes for the future," Morgan said as he toured his latest project.
A number of retail stores and professional businesses are tenants in the century-old building, although there is some lease space available, Morgan said.
The top floor is undergoing extensive demolition work, but the views looking down on 21st Street and across Saskatoon's downtown skyline are impressive.
This is the floor where his company's new offices will be located and is the start of a half-million-dollar renovation project that will see many improvements. Included in the plans is a new facade this summer to replace the dated 1960s exterior.
Renamed Urban Oasis Tower, the structure is just 40 feet wide and 50 feet deep. The building has a small footprint compared to other older high-rise buildings downtown.
"I like to say that it's the tallest, skinniest building in the neighbourhood," Morgan said, laughing.
Started in residential construction
A rising star on Saskatoon's home building landscape, Morgan is no stranger to the city's boom in residential construction. Urban Oasis entries in recent Saskatoon Parades of Homes have garnered praise, along with a corresponding increase in sales success.
Now building about a dozen mid-range-priced homes a year, and with a growing staff, he is expanding his focus to include commercial real estate.
While the young entrepreneur has followed Saskatoon's rising construction sector, his newest purchase reflects one of Saskatoon's earlier boom times. The block has had numerous owners through the years and bore a few different names, although for many years it was known as the Grain Building. Before its latest sale, its moniker was the Professional Services Building.
Morgan believes construction of the six-storey building might have begun around 1906, although he believes it wasn't fully completed until 1910.
"If that's correct, next year will mark the building's 100th birthday," he said.
It was originally named for its builder, Dr. John Henry Charles Willoughby, who also happened to be Saskatoon's first physician, first postmaster and first storekeeper.
Willoughby lived through perhaps what was Saskatchewan's most tumultuous historical period, being drafted in the spring of 1885 into the military field hospital corps caring for wounded militia during the Northwest Rebellion.
He testified for the Crown at Louis Riel's trial later that same year.
This early pioneer's family home was used as St. Paul's Hospital and stood on the site of the present-day hospital. Willoughby quit medicine and took up real estate development. He successfully ran in Saskatoon's municipal elections in 1907 and became a member of the Board of Trade. He also owned the Phenix, a local newspaper.
For a man who operated his first store out of a tent, Willoughby came a long way in the city.
While never operating his own business from under canvas, the enthusiastic Morgan has some familiarity with his early predecessor's humble beginnings.
"When I started building homes, my office was in a small corner of the basement," Morgan said. "But I suppose everyone has to start somewhere."
-Klink-
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