CityView Magazine

18 June 2021 FEATURE J acqueline Smith remembers entering the downtown high-rise Systel Building and seeing all the existing 1970s-era decor that saddled it with a dated look from yesteryear. "It was just another office building in our portfolio," she said. "Now I really love the building. I have an office here." e 37-year-old Smith is part owner of the Keith Allison family property that holds the distinction of being the tallest building in town. "We're still holding that title right now," she said on a blustery day in May. Smith, who has a stake in Allison Capital Partners and Systel Business Equipment, is in charge of an ongoing revitalization project – the Systel Building is getting a loy makeover. Portions of the looming aluminum-and-glass facade building, which is located near the Market House circle at 225 Green St., have been undergoing extensive renovations since the demoing got underway in August 2018. Fayetteville's tallest building getting $3 million makeover in the downtown district BY MICHAEL FUTCH PHOTOGRAPHY BY CINDY BURNHAM "It's been almost three years. It has been slow," said Smith, the vice president of marketing and business development at Systel. "But that's when we've put our vision together. It's a good time to get going." Plans call for the final phase – restaurant development on the 11th floor – to be finished by the end of 2022, making it roughly a four- year project. Smith said she took on the building development because of her license and background in real estate, which she calls a passion. "I've kept that passion going," Smith said. "is seems to be more ongoing and seems to be a bigger project." Last year alone, the Allison family sunk about $750,000 in capital improvements in the building, according to Smith. Besides her father, she's one of three Allison daughters who complete the ownership group that purchased the multi-use structure in 1998 from Nationwide Insurance. Jacqueline Smith has put her passion and education in real estate to good use in leading a revitalization of the Systel Building.

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