‘Under Contract’: Officials express hope for pending sale of old furniture warehouse on Franklin Street
Published 12:48 pm Wednesday, May 28, 2025
- Downtown Unlocked real estate showcase leads participants on a walking tour of available real estate properties in Downtown Natchez. During the showcase, the 521 Franklin St. property pictured here was announced to be "under contract."(Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
NATCHEZ — The sale of an 11,680-square-foot property at 521 Franklin St. in downtown Natchez is pending.
The property, which has been boarded up and available for purchase for several years, was included in a recent walking tour of available commercial real estate for purchase or lease in downtown Natchez, hosted by the Downtown Natchez Alliance.
“We were going to include it, but it was just announced that it’s now under contract,” said Liz Dantone, architect and director at large for DNA.
Historically, 521 Franklin St. has been used as a furniture store — Byrne Furniture Company in the 1960s — and later as storage for National Furniture Company, owned by the Pyron family for the last several decades, said Carter Burns of the Historic Natchez Foundation.
Built in the 1900s, the building boasts a corner location at Franklin and Union streets, just five blocks from the riverfront. It has a brick exterior and a metal roof.
According to Paul Green Real Estate, the listing agency’s description, the inside has over 4,500 square feet of open floor space with a stage, approximately 2,400 square feet of mezzanine space overlooking the main floor, a rear stairway leading to an upper floor with potential room for an upper-floor apartment or two, and approximately 928 square feet of outdoor space at the rear of the building.
The property listing has changed from “for sale” to “pending.” However, according to Glenn Green of Paul Green Real Estate, the sale is not final until it closes and the deed is filed.
Green declined to comment about the prospective developer, since the sale is not final, except to say, “He (the prospective owner) has good ideas on how to renovate it and put the property to use.”
Natchez Inc. Executive Director Chandler Russ said the economic development authority is not involved in the sale, though it has lured prospects to the location in the past.
“It’s a good space and I hope someone has a good plan to come in and revitalize it,” Russ said, adding, “It would be wonderful to have something in that space.”
Burns said that while it is covered in plywood, much of the storefront is still “very intact” underneath.
“Numerous people have looked at that building over the last few years,” he said, adding, “It would be a great tax credit project. I hope to see it restored and into back into use.”