UTICA, N.Y. -- Standing four stories tall on a main thoroughfare in the city of Utica is a building that once held a thriving business, Doyle's Hardware.
"No matter what you wanted he knew exactly what floor, exactly what room, what drawer of what cabinet what you were looking for was housed in," President of the Bagg's Square Association Beth Irons said.
The hardware store stayed in business for generations, but eventually all good things come to an end.
"When the news broke that Doyle Hardware was closing it literally broke hearts throughout the area," said Irons.
In 2007, a new developer purchased the property and a resurgence of the beloved building seemed possible. They opened a restaurant called Piers and Blake.
"The food was good, the staff was great, but in the end it all comes down to numbers and if you just can't generate the income to maintain it. It was difficult to see it not succeed," said Irons.
The restaurant closed soon after it opened due to codes issues and the owners declared bankruptcy. The building was left vacant, waiting for another interested party to come along.
"They've studied this for the last two years. They dug in, they wanted this building, so they know what they're getting into and they see the value of what's happening in our great city," said Utica Mayor Robert Palmieri.
The city of Utica officially announced the sale of the building earlier this week. It was purchased by a group of Syracuse developers who have decided to call themselves, Doyle Hardware LLC. They bought the building for $1.1 million.
"Buisness entrepreneurs don't take chances unless they know in the end result there's going to be a return on their investment. So that's why I'm confident they know exactly what they're doing," said Palmieri.
Leaders say the purchase of this historic property is one of the final keys to unlocking Bagg's Square full potential.
"I hope whatever goes into that building is something that fills a need and that draws the people down into Bagg's Square," said Irons.
Bringing life and opportunity back to one of the city's most precious gems.
The building's new owners have not yet released their plan for the property. City officials believe the developer's intention is to transform the building into loft apartments and business locations. Official plans are expected to be released in about six to eight weeks.