Since Covid, adaptive reuse has been an oft-used strategy in the development community; converting hotels to apartments, offices to hotels and creating small, personal spaces in onetime sprawling industrial sites. Houston’s Lovett Commercial, the developer behind the 550,000-square-foot Post Houston entertainment complex and the Sawyer Yards mixed-use district, has revealed new details for the historic Farmer Bros…to go from factory to arts, entertainment and multifamily.

The Houston Business Journal says the company plans to cut atriums into the Farmer Bros. building, bringing in natural light, and strip away a lot of the interior infrastructure to reveal the existing concrete columns and materials. 

Lovett Commercial is currently in talks with a charter school. The remaining space would be set aside for art and music studios, as well as other types of creative workspaces. The company plans to transform the roof of the building into an event space with a bar. Phase two might include multifamily.

Construction work on the building’s renovation could begin in about 18 months.