ANEW LIFE may be ahead for the old, boarded-up Fredericksburg Hardware building.
The Silver Cos. is talking to an Atlanta-based company about upgrading its original plan for the site.
"Hopefully, in the next 30 days we'll know if it's a real opportunity," said Jud Honaker, Silver's president of commercial development.
The Silver Cos. got city approval two years ago to put 17 townhouses and a retail building on the property, which stretches between William and Amelia streets along Winchester Street.
Those plans were put on hold when the housing market tanked, and the site was briefly eyed as the new location for the city's Circuit, General District and Juvenile and Domestic Relations courts.
"We want to take our original plan and really upgrade it and make it a really nice project," said Honaker. "We're trying to iron out details and add amenities and some other things that would be more community-oriented."
This could possibly include space for a theater or the arts, something that was kicked around for the old Maury School before it was turned into the Maury Commons condos and the Central Rappahannock Heritage Center, a nonprofit regional archive.
Silver also has begun grading what was to have been the site of WorldStreet in Celebrate Virginia South, which is on the Fredericksburg side of the Rappahannock River.
"We do have a company that we're talking to about doing something similar," Honaker said. "Nothing has been finalized."
The company, which he declined to name, is not willing to wait for the property to be graded if the project is green-lighted, so Silver is going ahead with those preparations.
"I think it could take up to six months to get an answer," Honaker said. "This way, when we do make a deal, it will be ready to go."
WorldStreet, which was supposed to open this year, was envisioned as a place where people could shop at boutiques owned by retailers from around the world, watch a cooking demonstration and eat in ethnic restaurants.
Businesses would sell not only on-site at the $100 million, 700,000-square-foot retail center, but through Web sites and WorldStreet's own TV network.
Cathy Jett: 540/374-5407
Email: cjett@freelancestar.com