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Tucson - 283 N. Stone Avenue is a familiar address to long time Tucsonans.

That was the location for the Mountain Oyster Club for some 30 years before moving to the east side in 2004.

The Bates Mansion has been empty for a few years but now it's going through a major makeover, and it's all being done with private funds.

"The building itself, I thought, was unique. The architectural bones and its history," says Seth Schindler a Partner and Manager with Prudent Preservation Partners, LLC.

The original house, built in the late 1800s, is adobe. Accountant C.T.R. Bates bought the property in 1954. The Bates family expanded the property and built additions.

Schindler and his partners are restoring the historic house and making it a multi-use complex.

"Given its location, a gateway into downtown, we think it can become a major attraction."

Professional offices facing Stone Ave. will soon be ready for tenants.

"We've got between, say 1,000 and up to 4,000 square feet almost, that can be leased as a package or maybe two small firms," says Susan French the Renovation Manager.

Thanks to Bates the place has some unique space to work with.

French walks through a large oval shaped room with a large domed ceiling. "This was originally an outdoor pool. And this was open to the sky."

There was another pool upstairs attached to the master bedroom. Both pools have long ago been filled in and covered over.

The core of the mansion, where the Mountain Oyster Club operated, will once again be an upscale restaurant.

One of the rooms in the labyrinth property will be an art gallery.

"It will act as a buffer between the Stone Ave. offices and the restaurant on this side," says French.
For Schindler, this project is about more than the building. He admits the corner of Stone and Franklyn looks rather raw today.

"I think there will be a synergy at this cross section. It is a gateway into Tucson and it's been dead for a hell of a long time."

The Center for Desert Archaeology is also a partner in the project. They have already moved into the restored casitas on Ash Alley to the west of the mansion.

Schindler says their goal is to have the restaurant and gallery complete when the new courthouse complex opens across the street.

For information about leasing office space contact Susan French at (520) 907-7325 or leave a message at (520) 882-3162.