Elon’s town council has given the town’s staff permission to sublet office space within a renovated storefront that the town leases near its municipal building.
Located at 104 North Williamson Avenue, this “town hall annex” is situated across the railroad tracks from Elon’s municipal building – which bears a confusingly mirror-like street address at 104 South Williamson Avenue.
The town currently leases this building from Eddie and Justin Dus-zlak, who have extensively revamped the structure since they purchased it in 2022. At the moment, the building serves as the home of Elon’s downtown development staff, although it had originally housed spillover from its police department as well.
Last Tuesday, Jill Weston, the town’s downtown development director, asked the council for permission to sublet the two offices that the police department had initially used on the second floor of the annex.
Weston informed the council that, while the police force no longer needs this space, it could prove useful to Elon University as it prepares to launch a specialty school for dyslexic children called Roberts Academy.
Weston recalled that a university representative recently contacted her on behalf of the parents of some of the academy’s incoming students. These parents were apparently searching for “co-working space” near the academy’s temporary home in downtown Elon, and she figured they could set up shop in the annex’s now-vacant offices.
Weston went on to propose a rate of $500 a month for the smaller of the two offices and $650 a month for the larger one. Her proposal was generally well received by the council, which went on to endorse her suggestion in a 5-to-0 decision.
“I think it’s great idea,” councilman Quinn Ray said as he summed up the mood of the group. “We’ll have more life in the building and bring in revenue.”
The only objection to Weston’s idea came from Elon’s mayor Emily Sharpe, who only votes on items before the council in the event of a tie.
“I think we need to do a better job of utilizing this space,” she declared before Tuesday’s unanimous vote.
