The Southern Express Lofts were completed in April 2009, and brought new life to the long-blighted ‘Southern Express’ building on E. Bank St. Once an important shipping and transfer building in Old Town Petersburg, the building saw many businesses come and go, including a paint store and body shop, before it was finally destroyed by fire in 1997. What was left of the building was saved from demolition by the Historic Petersburg Foundation; Waukeshaw purchased it in 2007. The $1M project was financed through a combination of State and Federal Historic Tax Credits, the Virginia Enterprise Zone Grant, commercial debt and developer equity. Eight market rate apartments and one commercial space were designed into the building, and, after getting no commercial takers, Waukeshaw embarked on the creation of Demolition Coffee Co, which quickly became one of the most popular restaurants in the area. The project was recently featured by Virginia Community Capital as one of five critical redevelopment examples in small towns across the state of Virginia.