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The Metropolitan Building, a 9-story Beaux-Arts structure built in 1913 at the corner of 5th and Broadway, has been slowly undergoing renovations to become 84 live-work apartments. Its owner, 449 S. Broadway LLC, hired Rockefeller Partners Architects (the firm behind the El Dorado Lofts and Douglas Building adaptive reuses) to design the transformation.

RPA’s plans include restoring the building’s historic elements and designing a new modern facade for its ground-level retailer, Fallas Paredes, which will remain a tenant. The building’s mezzanine and basement levels will serve as storage for the department store. Floors 3 through 9 will feature rental units ranging from 650 to 1,500 square feet, with three penthouses between 1,200 to 2,300 square feet.

Evidence of the reconstruction process is undetectable from the street, except for scaffolding around the property’s 5th Street entrance. Also, through the windows of the brightly lit third floor, we saw that new drywall has been installed. But don’t take our word for it, a few construction photos of the Metropolitan’s interior are posted below. Completion is expected by Fall 2008.

This loft conversion joins The Judson and Chester Williams projects on the 400 block of Broadway, creating a cluster of revival in the upper levels of the buildings on mid-Broadway. In fact, at least one major revitalization effort is completed, currently underway or planned on each block of Broadway between 2nd and 9th.

Renderings and construction photographs courtesy of Rockefeller Partners Architects.