Columbus attorney and businessman Kevin Kurgis plans to transform a neglected property at Fourth and State streets downtown into professional offices.

Gizmoco Ltd., a Kurgis family partnership, bought the property in mid-July for $700,000 from the estate of downtown florist, Lou Viereck. Two fire-damaged buildings along Fourth and a third building along State have been demolished to make room for an addition and parking.

Kurgis' father, King Thompson real estate agent John P. Kurgis, said the project calls for the addition of a third floor to the corner building and other improvements totaling $1.5 million.

Brian Wiland & Associates in Dublin is serving as architect and general contractor for the 17,000 square-foot renovation and expansion project. Construction will begin in May.

Kevin Kurgis will move his downtown law practice to the building's top floor. A Kurgis partnership that owns the United Revenue Service collection agency will occupy all but 1,500 square feet of the second floor.

The ground floor has 4,000 square feet available for an outside tenant.

"When the building is finished, it'll be a showcase," said John Kurgis, who will serve as property manager and leasing agent.

Columbus attorney and developer Jim Havens said downtown Columbus offers several smaller buildings available for businesses to renovate and occupy.

"These old-fashioned buildings have a lot of character and can serve as a marquee building for a business," said Havens.

Havens and real estate appraiser Samuel D. Koon serve as general partners for Calgary Real Estate Development. Calgary is now rebuilding the former Ohio Office of the Consumers' Counsel building for an owner/occupant a few doors away from the Kurgis project at 137 E. State St.

Calgary gutted the three-story Consumers' Counsel structure in preparation for adding glass stairwells and rebuilding a 24,000 square-foot, two-story office building inside the shell. The developer expects to complete that project in mid-December.

"These smaller buildings allow businesses that want to be an owner/occupant to have a downtown building," Havens said. "It's an opportunity to have one's own building and not have the balance of a larger suburban office building to lease out."

The entire Viereck property had been slated for demolition to make room for a surface parking lot for the Credit Bureau of Columbus Inc.

Ken Ferell, planning manager for the city's downtown development office, said the Downtown Commission believed the fencing plans for the lot would not adequately obscure the view of parked vehicles from the street.

"The opportunity for redevelopment of the property was created by the handling of that case," Ferell said. "The corner building, with its limestone front, was the most significant building. It maintains a sense of development density at State and Fourth."