New owners of Browder building plan to lease space to businesses

The co-owner of Boulder City’s oldest commercial building said she plans to renovate and lease the space to businesses.

In March, Dan and Kelly Fox, owners of Fox Smokehouse BBQ, bought the Browder building, 552 Nevada Way, in the historic downtown area from Charles Lawson of Eldorado Gold LLC. At the time, they said they were not sure what they were going to do with property, but they planned to keep it as historic and Boulder City as possible.

Earlier this week, they started cleaning out the building, and Kelly Fox said they are planning to divide it into two different units and lease them. The building is made of up three units, and the middle one will be incorporated into the corner one that was formerly Mel’s Diner.

“These are two prime locations for downtown businesses,” she said. “We are excited to get it going.”

Kelly Fox said they are trying to get the building open and ready to show for the public. The inside has been cleaned out, and the exterior will be painted today, Sept. 5. Before selling it, Lawson modernized some of the walls and HVAC systems, but many things still need to be brought up to code.

“We’re pretty much going to have to start from scratch. … I’m just so glad it fell into our hands,” she said.

Also, whatever businesses end up there, she wants them to be downtown-friendly and help make the area “whole again.”

Desert Sun Realty will be handling the leasing of the building.

The Browder building was built in 1931, and Ida “Ma” Browder opened the town’s first restaurant there. She expanded the structure to include 554 and 558 Nevada Way in 1940, according to a 2012 report done by the city’s Historic Preservation Committee. In more recent years, it housed the first location of the World Famous Coffee Cup, which is now at 512 Nevada Highway.

Contact reporter Celia Shortt Goodyear at cgoodyear@bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9401. Follow her on Twitter @csgoodyear.