The Henry on Main officially opens with ribbon cutting

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) – The Henry on Main, a recently renovated 32-unit boutique loft apartment community, celebrated its grand opening with a ribbon-cutting on Thursday.

The apartment community is repurposed from three historic downtown buildings, including the former Hands-On! Museum, Sears, and JCPenney buildings. The units feature high-volume ceilings, large windows, skylights, and an outdoor roof lounge. Each unit is unique, and the community offers one-, two-, and three-bedroom units.

The Cox Universal Group, Mitch Cox Construction, Universal Living, and Collective Architecture Company were all involved in the project.

“It’s very much a more contemporary urban apartment loft feel with high volume ceilings exposed original beams, some original exposed brick, a lot of high-end finishes that really kind of cater to someone who wants to live in this kind of downtown environment,” Shane Abraham, CEO of Universal Living & Co-CEO of Cox Universal Group, said. “Lots of big glass, natural sunlight, great views. It’s really a neat application of the space.”

Abraham said they had many obstacles from when they started this project in 2021.

“Lots of challenges in regard to even just limited labor and high construction costs that came throughout the pandemic,” Abraham said. “The limited supply chain on a lot of the electrical HVAC, more challenges with financing because of the duration of time. And then just still wondering that the marketability is still there.”

Fortunately, Abraham said they were able to come out on the good side of the pandemic as 16 units are already leased.

Kattie Casebolt, architect with Collective Architecture Company, said they were able to salvage all parts of the buildings for re-purposing.

“So we really tried to work within the existing building that we had and just enhancing what was already there,” Casebolt said. “So you’re working with a lot of confined areas and trying to fit everything in. So every apartment is unique. All of them are a little bit different just to take advantage of the windows or just the way that it laid out. So if you walk in one, the next one’s going to be different. So every single one has its own little bit of character.”

Abraham said they had the location in mind when seeking this project out.

“You’ve got to have people downtown with the best of interest,” Abraham said. “And so you need folks living down here on the sidewalks that their entire life pattern is focused down here. You can’t just have commerce down here. You can’t just have retail and office and you’ve got to have folks really living down here to make this puzzle complete. “

The Henry on Main, located at 208 East Market Street, is within walking distance of numerous dining, shopping, and entertainment options in downtown Johnson City.

Although the residential spaces are completed on the top three floors, the bottom floor is still for commercial use.

Abraham and Casebolt said the old JCPenney space is currently under contract.

“We do have a very exciting tenant coming on the main street side as well,” Abraham said. “I can’t say who that is right now, but there should be some pretty exciting stuff coming soon.”

The Henry on Main supports the local community by bringing additional businesses downtown, including approximately 25,000 square feet of retail and office space.

Casebolt said this was a project of passion and encourages investments in downtown.

“It takes a lot to develop these old buildings,” Casebolt said. “Shane and Phillip and their team has spent all of this money putting it into the downtown, because it’s just such an important building. And I would encourage others to revitalize their downtown.”

To learn more about the apartment community, visit The Henry on Main’s website , or call 423-946-0084.

To learn more about leasing the commercial spaces you can reach out to Shannon K. Castillo with Mitch Cox Realtor, Inc.

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