Historic Peskin building in Winder to be renovated

The old historic Peskin Department store building at 21 East Athens St. in downtown Winder has been vacant for more than two decades and fallen into disrepair. Local businessman, Daniel Diaz, has purchased the 1940 structure from the city and will be renovating the building.

Winder received ownership of the property June 2015 in an attempt to preserve or repurpose the deteriorating structure. Winder contracted with Garbutt Construction to perform an analysis of the building in 2016 that indicated reconstruction and rehabilitation of the building would cost about $1.9 million.

In December, the Winder City Council held a public meeting and voted to accept the proposal from Diaz to transform approximately 25 percent of the building for restaurant use, with the remaining 75 percent to be used as commercial, office and retail space. Diaz hopes to have the project completed by June 2018.