WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — Students attending Midwestern State University this fall will have a new option to reside while going to school.
During a tour, the owner of The Kate Apartments, Will Kelty showed multiple floors, some of which looked like all they needed were appliances, and they are ready to go, in this two-phase project, Kelty said phase one is nearing completion.
“It is not a sprint, it is a marathon, it is a Hotter ‘N’ Hell marathon,” Kelty said.
A marathon that Kelty has been running for the past year and a half, but he sees the finish line on the horizon.
“We’re well into the project right now, where we are, we’re standing on the second floor above the Highlander Public House, and this is going to be part of the common area of the residences,” Kelty said.
Floors two through five will be student housing for those attending MSU, and these apartments come with some pretty cool amenities.
“Behind me, you’re seeing, it’s going to be a common area kitchen. There’s a gym down here. There’s going to be a sort of playroom with a pool table and ping pong table and tv, that sort of thing, and also a pool,” Kelty said.
Kelty believes once open, The Kate could have a big impact on the downtown economy.
“I wanted to breathe new life into this building and I also wanted to breathe more life into downtown, downtown has really been coming alive over the past four five, or six years and this is only going to help the downtown area grow,” Kelty said.
A process that Kelty said has been no walk in the park.
“With a historic renovation, you have certain restrictions that will keep you from doing things, also if you’re trying to restore a building, you don’t really know what you have until you kind of clean it out and so that presents new problems as you do that,” Kelty said.
Problems that Kelty has been able to work through in order to bring downtown roughly 170 new places to live.
Kelty is also creating affordable apartments for the public, which will be on floors six through twelve, he says those apartments should be open soon after the MSU portion is complete.
