Phoenix developer on mission to save historic buildings

• In a city where demolishing deteriorating structures has been the norm%2C Michael Levine became one of the first to start buying old buildings for the sole purpose of preserving and transforming them.
• Warehouses that Michael Levine has renovated now house the Bentley Gallery at Bentley Projects%2C the Duce restaurant%2C bar and clothing store%2C and ASU's Grant Street Studios.
• Michael Levine bought his first building in Phoenix%2C located on 13th Street and Jackson%2C at age 23.

Michael Levine, 45, loves history, but what he loves even more is sharing it.

Levine is a downtown Phoenix developer; his mission is to save as many historical buildings as possible in the city's warehouse district.

For more than 20 years, he has returned numerous warehouses to commerce, including those that now house the Bentley Gallery at Bentley Projects and the Duce restaurant, bar and clothing store. In a city where demolishing deteriorating structures has been the norm, Levine became one of the first to start buying old buildings for the sole purpose of preserving and transforming them.

The work is not for the faint of heart.

"When I get these buildings, they're in scary condition. Early on I had asked people to join up with me, but they just didn't have the scruples," Levine said.

"I understand why people don't do what I do, because it's more art than science," Levine said. "If you're relying on a whole bunch of different trades and contractors and architects to give you their opinion, then it will probably become more costly."

It wasn't until 1990 that Levine, who was raised in Brooklyn, moved to Phoenix. He bought his first building, on 13th and Jackson streets, at age 23. He's been adding to his empire ever since.

Outside the old Phoenix Feed & Seed Co. warehouse at 411 S. Second St. sits an orange truck near a giant Phoenix Suns sign. The truck has a Suns decal on its back window. Levine is an obvious fan.

The building's brick exterior is cracked, crumbly, faded. It's the oldest warehouse in Phoenix; it's been standing since 1905. As of now, Levine isn't sure what this building will become. He's changed his budget for it numerous times but says that whatever he chooses to do, he'll make sure it correctly preserves the structure's history.

Levine walks from the building's interior; he's just been working on restoring the building with one of his few handymen.

Scott Blastick, a bricklayer by trade, has been working with Levine for about 12 years.

Levine said Blastick has hung around for so long because he's just as particular about his work, which can make it frustrating for either of them to work with anyone else.

Levine's eyes brighten as he shares the extremely detailed, historical stories behind the warehouse, as well as the other buildings he owns, which total roughly 120,000 square feet.

For his latest project, which opened in January, Levine worked with Phoenix and Arizona State University to create a graduate-student workspace just down the road from the Bentley Projects art gallery. ASU's Grant Street Studios houses studio space and a gallery for graduate art students, and Levine is helping to complete its second phase, expected to open in May 2015.

Bentley Projects is a project Levine took on in 1999. He talked owner Bentley Calverley into believing he could transform 215 E. Grant St. from a crumbling, moldy and frightening structure to one that was attractive enough for her to move her Scottsdale Bentley Gallery to Phoenix. He sold the space to Calverley in 2004.

To Levine, few appreciate the history behind the aged, sometimes dilapidated structures.

But Greg Brickey, an ASU architecture professor and the president of BDA Engineers, a design-based structural-engineering firm in Phoenix, believes in what Levine is doing.

Domino effect

Brickey said he agrees that many developers lack concern for buildings in the warehouse district, but he says that's just the Phoenix way of doing things.

"We tear things down to build something new, so I don't know if I can say that it's specific to the warehouse district. I think that in general Phoenix has always been a city that's torn itself down to build something new," he said.

To Levine, this approach creates a sort of domino effect, where when one building gets demolished, it makes it so the next one can go down, too.

"I'm straddling the difference between what I want for myself and my family, what I want from the city of Phoenix, what I want for the next 100 years, what I want for community development," Levine said. "I'm using real-estate development in Phoenix as a political statement."

The city's tendency to rebuild may remain a challenge for Levine. But for him, the future is all about technology, which he says will require cutting-edge construction and entertainment in the warehouse district to attract tech companies.

"It's the Wild West; you could build what you want, you could work outside all day long, there's no unions to put their thumb on you," Levine said. "All the things that attracted me over 20 years ago are the same things that attract people here now."

If he loses his battle for the warehouses, Levine thinks spaces will remain parking lots for a couple of decades, or turn into what he calls crappy stucco and block constructions.

"It will be a secondary town, and Phoenix shouldn't be a secondary town."

Runs in the family

For Levine, his interest in the history behind buildings began developing when he was a child in Brooklyn. Levine says he was fascinated by an old, faded New York Times newspaper, in which an article in the science section featured his grandfather's work on shortening the amount of time lead tests took.

Then came his aunt Anna, who as a young woman pretended she could weld and was the first person hired in the Brooklyn Navy Yard to help with the World War II effort.

Even Levine's uncle Pete, who died before Levine was born, was an inventor. Levine's research found that his uncle filed 26 patents between 1937 and 1966.

"All that stuff back in Brooklyn definitely helps me be tenacious in finding the history of these buildings," Levine said. "It's different than a photo. You can't visit a photo. When you're in the building, all that texture, the 100 years of scars and nicks and dings and transformation …"

Whether it's power washing the floor of the second phase of ASU's Grant Street Studios, meeting with prospective buyers or conceptualizing what he wants for what he deems "the baby," the Phoenix Feed & Seed building, most days are just go-go-go for Levine. On top of that, he has three children younger than 6.

Levine says his wife Heather, 42, and kids are his newest muse and have given him a completely different energy level. Most of all, Levine says, his family has made it so he fights for his buildings more now than ever.

"They (the kids) know the difference between the warehouses; they come in and they're like, 'Well, what happened here? Where's the machine?' " Levine said. "They're now part of the history of these buildings and they appreciate it."

Society speech

Michael Levine will speak to the Lambda Alpha International Phoenix chapter, the honorary society for the advancement of land economics, on April 29. His presentation on the Phoenix warehouse district will take place at 5 p.m. at 34 E. Jackson. Cost is free for members, $25 for non-members and $35 at the door. For more information and registration, visit www.lai-phx.org.