The Karams have been an integral part of El Paso for many years, improving the city through its quality structures and real estate ventures. Chances are, you know someone who knows someone that rents a Karam-owned space, or lives in a Karam-built development. So when the youngest generation of Karams, brothers TJ and Luke, decided to forego their burgeoning careers in stock trading and communications in favor of a more familiar line of work, the Sun City was set to benefit.

On March 13, 2008, then-32-year-old TJ Karam announced in a City TIRZ Board meeting that he and his brother, Luke, 29, had purchased a vacant textile building, located at 300 S. Florence. The brothers dubbed the neighborhood “SoGov,” or South of the Government District. The plan? To refurbish and redevelop the 3-floor redbrick building, creating nine upscale condo units on the second and third levels, complete with a private parking garage, rooftop terrace and the kicker: retail and commercial units on the street level-floor. The property, zoned for manufacturing, would have to secure a rezoning approval to become a mixed-use structure.

This proposal would prove to be part of a larger Karam brother initiative they call “The El Paso Project.” “The El Paso Project is a project to focus on what we believe is vital to the development of Downtown El Paso,” says TJ. In keeping with the mixed-use principle, the duo plan to redevelop several Downtown buildings over the next few years, effectively revamping the area and infusing it with their youthful energy and progressive ideas.

In May 2008, the City approved the rezoning and the Karams began drafting blueprints, drawing up renditions and introducing the city to what will eventually be the “1st Avenue Lofts.” The Lofts, says Luke, are a “necessary component that’s lacking in Downtown El Paso.”

With all the goings-on in Downtown; the impending pedestrian mall, the upcoming Doubletree Hotel and the general Downtown Plan buzz infusing the area, the Karams, it seems, are right on target.

Their goal is to introduce “walkable urbanity” to the city of El Paso, fusing an upscale urban lifestyle with El Paso’s own distinctive flavor. The two believe that by attracting a diverse population to Downtown and providing them convenient access to shops, businesses, restaurants, bars and residences, the community will “attract and retain the young, smart citizens that communities depend on for a healthy economy and a healthy overall community.”

The 1st Avenue Lofts, they hope, will serve as a springboard for the El Paso Project’s greater vision. Besides its prime location, it is the rustic look and feel of the S. Florence structure that attracted the Karams. “The building was vacant; it was the perfect opportunity to take a beautiful building, brick and concrete.” The duo plans to refurbish the industrial warehouse space, not strip it of its unique urban character. The interior of the building boasts exposed brick, concrete floors, wooden beams and visible plumbing pipes, which the brothers plan to incorporate as part of the Lofts’ trendy, progressive aesthetic. Each of the nine condo units will take up 1100 – 1500 sq. ft. and will be dressed with top-of-the line amenities. “We’re working on giving people a nice kitchen, bathroom, closet…an open feeling,” explains TJ.

TJ and Luke, along with their brother, Ben, who serves as property manager, also plan to renovate the façade of the building and are working with the City’s TIRZ Board to beautify neighborhood streets. The brothers are only seeking financial support from the City to modifying the exterior of the building and “make the area nicer for everyone else, not just [themselves].” “The City has been overwhelmingly supportive. We’re not asking for money for construction, only help in things that surround this project and what we believe to be a focal point for other projects and bringing life to Downtown,” says TJ.

The brothers take the same laid-back, for-the-good-of-all approach when it comes to selling and leasing the condos. Says Luke, “We’re not doing this for profit sake; we’re not going to do all of this and then throw an astronomical number out there. We’re doing this top-of-the-line because we want it to last.”

“Basically, what we’re trying to accomplish is give people every luxury they would have in a new home and mix that with the industrial warehouse-type of feeling. Cost won’t be out-of-line with what you’d pay for a home in El Paso,” adds TJ.

As far as the retail and commercial space, the brothers hope to rent to businesses like dry cleaners, fitness gyms, coffee shops and bodegas, to perpetuate the urban feel of the neighborhood and offer everyday conveniences not only the 1st Avenue Lofts tenants, but those who work in and frequent Downtown. And when the Federal Courthouse opens its doors in 2009, the Karams expect to have hundreds of people lining the SoGov streets.

Although TJ, Luke and Ben are native El Pasoans, they have each spent a significant amount of time outside of the Sun City. Between them, they’ve lived in Manhattan, Austin, Lubbock and Dallas, where they’ve seen this “walkable urbanity” alive and thriving. Why come back to El Paso, where there is much work to be done? “El Paso is something that we want to be a part of,” says TJ. “We want to look at what we’ve done [here] and say, ‘we were a part of that’.”

And while they’re ambitious and innovative and even a bit idealist, the brothers recognize the challenges that they face in spearheading a project so unequivocally un-El Paso. But it is the nay-sayers out there who they’re eager to educate and prove, says TJ, “that there’s so much potential in this city.”

Adds Luke, “People say it’s a risk; we don’t see it as a risk…This is just the next step for Downtown El Paso.”

One of the nine condos will be occupied by Luke, who is eager to experience Downtown living. The remaining eight units, located at 300 S. Florence, will be available for presale and pre-lease, as of August 1, 2008. For more information, visit www.theelpasoproject.com.

Editor's note: This article was originally published in the July 2008 issue of the El Pasoan.

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