Badly burned from a three-alarm fire on September 14, the abandoned commercial building at 407 Dauphin Street is considered a “total loss” except for the front brick façade.

The front façade could be a saving grace for the building that erupted in flames during a dramatic fire that remains under investigation.

The City of Mobile issued a permit late Wednesday to allow the building’s owner to install braces on the front façade. The permit, and subsequent work, will stabilize the structure and prevent it from becoming a public safety hazard, a city spokesman said.

The building’s owners — the estate of Ronald Hoffman — had until Wednesday to submit plans on how they were preserving the building’s facade.

“They are bracing the front so it doesn’t fall outward and to make sure it’s not a threat,” said Jason Johnson, spokesman for the city’s administrative offices. “(The permit) is to make sure it’s not dangerous. It’s been reviewed by our code enforcement folks, and Build Mobile and Historic (Development Commission). They’ve all signed off on the permit.”

Future plans

The building remains under contract by Historic Mobile, a revolving fund that is a subsidiary of Main Street Mobile. That organization is affiliated with the Downtown Mobile Alliance.

Carol Hunter, spokeswoman with the Downtown Mobile Alliance, said Thursday that a decision could come soon from Historic Mobile on whether it wants to purchase the building. It is currently under a 60-day due diligence period before deciding whether to proceed with the sale.

Councilman William Carroll, on Friday, said he believes the building will be saved, though there is no indication whether it can be repurposed or revitalized.

Historic Mobile works to preserve the architecture and buildings in downtown Mobile. The nonprofit revolving fund, which is solely philanthropically funded, also owns property on Congress Street in downtown Mobile.

Said Hunter, “We’ll get (buildings) stabilized, but we are not in the renovation and construction business. There are plenty of people in town who do that. But we are in the business to make those properties easier for developers to buy.”

Hunter said the 407 Dauphin Street property was a challenge before the three-alarm blaze that erupted on September 14, leaving the building charred and gutted.

The Dauphin Street area in front of the building remains closed to the public, and the street is closed to vehicular travel between Franklin and Hamilton streets. It’s unclear when the street might reopen. The Mobile Fire-Rescue Department is encouraging anyone with information about the fire to call 251-208-7311.

Hunter said that determining the cause of the fire will not impact the sale.

“Even before the fire, it needed some work,” she said. “It wasn’t secure in the back from people coming and going (into it). We would’ve (secured it) and marketed it to a developer.”

Irving Silver, an attorney who represents the Hoffman estate, told Maggie Kates with The Mobile Lede this week that the family hopes the building can be preserved and revitalized. The adjoining Hoffman Furniture store is also being sold be the estate in the hopes a developer will revitalize the space, according to Kates’s report.

Entertainment district gap

The property is located in a three-block area that has long been the only exclusion to Mobile’s entertainment district ordinance on Dauphin Street.

Could the fire prompt officials to rethink whether to close the gap? That doesn’t appear to be the case. Hunter said the same concerns that existed in 2013 remain despite changes that have occurred in downtown Mobile over the past decade.

Aside from the three blocks between Cedar and Franklin streets, the entire street filled with restaurants and nightlife and is part of an entertainment district created by the City Council in May 2013.

The district allows people visiting the area to consume beer or wine outdoors in plastic cups. It is illegal to drink outdoors within the three-block area, but there is no indication that anyone has been ticketed for doing so. The three-block area separates two areas of Dauphin Street that people will walk through as they visit different bars and restaurants along the street.

The Hoffman family, in 2013, objected to having the area included within the entertainment district. Others within the area did as well around the same time a legal dispute was underway with the owners and operators of the Alabama Music Box over noise and other concerns with the nightclub. The Music Box, which operated as a concert venue from 2008-2013 at 455 Dauphin St., moved to 12 Conception St. in 2019.

Hunter said that the same concerns about extending the entertainment district to close the three-block gap still exist, even with the Music Box relocated and after the fire that damaged 407 Dauphin.

“It’s a pretty heavy residential section of Dauphin Street and (residents) have made it clear, from time to time, that they do not want to have a lot of late-night activity,” she said.