‘Mesmerizing’: With opening of Grande Palazzo, Long’s vision becomes reality
Jeff Long sits in the Graystone Grande Palazzo restaurant dining area. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
Jeff Long sits in the Graystone Grande Palazzo restaurant dining area. Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski
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“I can't wait to get old."
That's what Todd Lewis, president of Shoe Fly Corp., said after watching Jeff Long's presentation of the Graystone Grande Palazzo on Thursday morning at the Blair County Chamber of Commerce Breakfast Club.
Long, who now owns 15 Graystones in seven counties and three personal care homes, offered a video presentation of his project to convert the former Bon Secours Holy Family Hospital into a building featuring both independent living and personal care units.
"We've been doing this for 4 1/2 years," Long said. "When I started, I thought it would be two years. I thought it would cost about $20 million and we're now at $40 million and counting. It has been a fun project."
In 2016, Altoona-Blair County Development Corp. sold Long the 6.3-acre, 4-square-block area for a $1 nominal fee.
ABCD Corp. had been contemplating demolition of all six buildings on the site, which had been vacant for several years.
At the time, Patrick Miller, executive vice president, said Long's plan qualified as a "rescue."
Long said the first phase of the project includes 110 apartments -- all of which are rented -- and the second phase, which will be completed sometime in 2022, will have 42 apartments.
The building also features 68 personal care rooms on the second floor.
Long said the apartments are one- and two-bedroom units. Rent ranges from $700 to $2,500 a month, and that includes everything but phone and internet.
The apartments have granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. He said there is no carpeting, all floor surfaces are hard, and all of the apartments are a bit different.
"I designed about every square inch of the building," Long said. "It came out close to what I envisioned four years ago."
Chamber President and CEO Joe Hurd was awestruck.
"No two apartments in that building are alike," he said. "That speaks to the creativity of the person who put that all together. I can't imagine anything more impressive in this area. We want the area to be appealing to people.
"We have our centerpiece for this area," Hurd said. "For people who see this, it is mesmerizing. It is good that he is a perfectionist."
Long said the first floor includes eight commercial businesses, which are all open to the public.
Some of the shops include Green Bean Coffee, a dentist's office, a hearing aid shop, Stone Cellar restaurant, a clothing boutique and Colosseum Salon and Spa.
The first floor also includes 12 apartments.
"If I had to do it over, I would have made the first floor all commercial shops," Long said.
"The one recurring comment that I heard at the ribbon-cutting was, 'It's hard to believe that this is really in Altoona,'" Hurd said. "And that's not even a criticism of Altoona. What Jeff Long has fashioned from a dilapidated hospital building is incredible. It is real, and it is spectacular."
Mirror Staff writer Walt Frank is at 814-946-7467.