REVOLUTIONARY: The city of Riverside welcomes the newest Ratkovich Properties installation, one of Southern California’s premier adaptive reuse developers.
By Elizabeth Bailey, Staff Writer
For two years the city of Riverside awaited the reveal of its newest project, and now, after everything the city–as well as the construction crew, investors, developers, and Community and Economic Development Director(CEDD) Al Zelinka put into it–the first apartment living space for the downtown area has finally arrived. “Welcome to historic and vibrant downtown Riverside and welcome to the grand opening of the eagerly awaited Imperial Hardware Lofts project! The evolution of our city and its quality of life continues through the possibilities of an urban lifestyle in the capital of Inland SoCal[…] and is a testimony to the strong desire to live, work and play in downtown,” Mayor of Riverside Rusty Bailey said at the grand opening on Thursday, August 16. The apartments stand at the location of the original Imperial Hardware store of Riverside, one of the first buildings on Main Street. Now, the refurbished and revolutionary Imperial Hardware Lofts(IHL) stand ready to bring new life and bustle to the downtown area.
Expressing his utmost support and excitement for the project and everyone involved, Bailey provided context and explained the history behind the project. “Today’s event marks a significant milestone of a vision of my predecessor, Mayor Ron Loveridge, who in 2012, before he left office, proposed a goal of building 5,000 new units in downtown Riverside by 2025. I wholly supported that goal of increasing downtown housing then as a council member, and I am proud to see it happening now as your Mayor,” Bailey declared. Those involved in the project include the Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce, local downtown business owners and the city development team, each of their investments greatly contributed to the future of our city. However,(CEDD), Zelinka got the ball rolling and put the plan into action, first contacting President of Ratkovich Properties, Cliff Ratkovich, and telling him “We need you in downtown Riverside.” Ratkovich, alongside his partner, Rob Dodman, quickly discovered an authentic, walkable downtown whose rich history and culture inspired them to build something that would better Riverside and its inhabitants.
The high-class establishment is fully equipped with both indoor and outdoor amenities, including locally pleasing views, fully equipped kitchens, modern living, brick accent walls, generous private balconies and patios, and sixth floor penthouse units for individual units. Shared spaces include a terrace with a fountain-spa and pool, grill stations, fire pits, outdoor dining and sun deck, as well as a state of the art fitness center, custom roof-top dog walking, an outdoor movie theater and more. It is easy to see that this new living space not only provides the necessities and luxuries of a premier apartment building, but goes above and beyond to fit a multitude of varying tastes and meet the needs of anyone looking for quality living. The adaptable and inviting environment already shows promise of making Riverside an evermore prosperous and active city. The project, which includes 91 apartment units and approximately 8,000 square feet of commercial space, “[…] is over 50% leased, an unprecedented amount, and Cliff anticipates that the lofts will be fully leased before the end of the year,” Senior Project Manager Nathan Freeman claims. The future of Riverside is foreseeably improved thanks to the revolutionary IHL, and now that Riverside’s standard of living increases, the city’s prospects can only progress throughout this era of renaissance.