This building has a long and storied history, with connection to some key figures in the Valley‘s history. it is also an excellent example of adaptive reuse and Jane’s adage “new ideas require old buildings.”
Southwest Cotton
The site traces its history back to 1895 when it was home to the Phoenix Cotton Oil Company. During World War I, with the supply of Egyptian cotton in jeopardy due to blockades and the southern US farms infested by boll weevils, the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company needed a secure source of cotton for its aircraft division. So they sent Paul Weeks Litchfield, a young company executive, to Phoenix to convince local ranchers and farmers to start cultivating cotton.
Unable to make much headway convincing others, in 1916, Litchfield started the Southwest Cotton Company to purchase land for cotton growing on Goodyear’s behalf. In 1918, he built a two-story structure next to the original Cotton Oil Company building in Phoenix as the company’s headquarters and main processing plant. Here the company bought and sold cotton, pressed cotton seed oil and processed cotton in several gin stands.
Due, in part, to the success of Southwest Cotton, in 1926 Goodyear promoted Litchfield to president of the company. He was named Chairman of the Board in 1930. In 1927 the Southwest Cotton Company headquarters operation moved to the newly christened ‘Litchfield Park,’ named in his honor at Goodyear’s persistence, “where a larger building located east of the machine shop was provided for the staff.” (source)
During the late 1920’s and early 1930’s Mutual Cotton and Oil, a company with connections to Dwight B. Heard, owned the building. From 1933 until 1943 it was owned by Western Cotton Products.
Karlson Machine Works
Andrew Jurgen and Marie Constance Karlson founded Karlson Machine Works in 1932. The business offered welding and machining repair assistance to farmers, ranchers and business owners in the Phoenix area. Andrew was a Swedish metalworker who worked on the Roosevelt Dam. They started the business in the back yard of their home at 18th Avenue and Monroe Street in Phoenix (next to the present day State legislature).
A few years later, the Karlson’s leased a building one block north on Van Buren Street. During World War II, the company grew quickly, and in 1943, with the help of Emory Hurley, they leased, then bought the building at 605 E. Grant. Andrew liked the building because it was steel reinforced and built to support 500+ pound bales of cotton, heavy metal machines and engines. The family-owned business remained at the site until 2001.
Levine Machine
In 2004, business partners Michael Levine and Angela Paladino acquired the building as ‘bulldozer bait’. But instead of tearing it down for a parking lot or future condos, he spent the next three years painstakingly restoring and renovating the building. They focused on preserving as much of the historic structure as he could, seamlessly blending modern amenities with the authentic fabric of the building. It was placed on the City of Phoenix’s Historic Register in June 2005. For these efforts, the building was a surprise winner of the 2007 Arizona Governor’s Heritage Preservation Award Grand Prize.
This 42,000 sq ft. property is well situated to be a hub of the historic warehouse district’s revitalization. The building is located two blocks south of Chase Field and a block away from Bentley Projects (another rehab project of Michael and Angela’s) and other warehouse area conversions. It is now home to their company, Levine Machine and Aardvark Armadillo; Angelic Groove, a floral design studio; and Professional Sports Rentals, a real estate company specialized in rental properties for professional athletes.
In addition, there is a 2,400 sq. ft loft space for lease that would be perfect for a design or architectural firm, or perhaps a co-working space, à la Gangplank or Fractal. There are also two 8,000 sq. ft (approximately) industrial ‘flex spaces’ available for lease.
Special thanks to Michael Levine and Angela Paladino for providing much of the background information used in this post. For more photos of the building, check out the Levine Machine website. Thanks also to local historians Donna Reiner for her insights and fact checking.
