The Norman Transcript
By Andrew W. Griffin
 
What was first built in the early 1920s to serve as the telephone company in downtown Norman recently has been renovated as a model for urban living — The Magnolia Building at 132 W. Main St.

The man behind the revitalization of this 80-plus year-old, two-story building is construction company owner Brent Swift.

“This building has a lot of history,” said Swift over a cup of coffee at a downtown café. “And when I decided to do the project, the idea was to put it back the way it would look like back in 1922.”

And now that it is entirely occupied, something Swift said didn’t take too long to achieve, it does have a Jazz Age look about it.

“A gentleman here owned it since the early 1960’s and in recent years the windows had been boarded up,” said Swift, noting that it was recently an insurance business and law office that had been divided up inside.

Swift saw the potential of the old brick building. And that gentleman, Will Mattoon, was willing to sell it to Swift when the time was right.

“And the timing was right,” Swift said, adding that renovation on the structure began in August 2006.

Swift, 37, is a native Californian who came to the University of Oklahoma in the late 1980s and graduated several years later and went into television broadcasting. However, he recounts driving down the road one day and realizing that he was better suited for the construction business.

His construction career began while he was working on properties near campus. He also did a lot of buying and selling of houses.

And now, more than a decade has passed since those early days and Swift’s business and work in Norman has gained a lot of interest and respect.

“Before long we were doing quite a bit of renovation in historical neighborhoods,” Swift said. “That’s my focus and that’s what I really enjoy doing.”

Going into the project, Swift said a businesswoman named Sarah Kaplan had approached him with a business plan for a natural foods store called Natural Roots. It seemed perfect for the 7,500 square foot structure, he said. As for the second floor? It was made into four apartment units.

“I had a plan from the beginning,” Swift said. “It would reflect urban living, downtown living.”

Two of the units have one bedroom and bath. The other units have two of each.

“Each has flat screen TV’s, granite countertops, acid-stained floors and Whirlpool tubs,” he said.

Taking a tour of the building exterior, it’s clear Swift spared no expense to make the Magnolia look sharp. From the iron awnings, to the globe lights, to the high-quality windows and frames it is obvious attention to detail was a top priority.

And the architecture and design would remain in line with the look of downtown, which still maintains some of that turn of the 20th century charm.

Swift was proud of the fact he was able to take on the Magnolia building because “the availability of old buildings is limited.”

Outside each of the four units is a patio area where tenants have a nice view of downtown Norman.

When Swift first started working on the Magnolia, he had to get the city to accept his plan and to rezone it for multiple use. Then, after that happened, it took two months to clean it out. Nothing inside was salvageable. Swift and his crew had to make sure the Magnolia was up to code and had adequate insulation.

Being involved in the downtown area makes sense to Swift. His business Harmony Hardware & Home recently moved from Comanche to Main Street and has to compete with the big box retailers near the interstate.

Swift laments how so many commercial buildings lack quality work and how “bland architecture” is the order of the day.

“You can create attractive development and get a return on your money,” Swift said.