LENOX — A pair of downtown properties has changed hands, putting the future of a much-needed 20-space parking lot and a rundown but historic residence in question.

Streetscape LLC, owned by area retailer Anthony Chojnowski, paid $700,000 for the 1870 house at 51 Housatonic St. and $475,000 for the unpaved parking lot at 41 Housatonic St. adjacent to Casablanca, his luxury clothing boutique on Church Street. The sites were purchased from Schulze Lenox Properties LLC, which handles longtime downtown investor Charles Schulze’s local properties.

Schulze Lenox Properties holds a $300,000 mortgage on the transactions.

Chojnowski also owns the nearby Shooz and Swtrz in the Lenox business district, as well as GB9, a women’s clothing store on Railroad Street in Great Barrington.

Last fall, town leaders considered asking voters to weigh in on a proposed $1 million purchase of the two Housatonic Street sites. But Town Manager Jay Green and other town leaders ultimately decided the price was too high and, after a private buyer stepped in, declined to pursue the transaction.

Since the mid-1980s, the dirt lot on the site of the demolished Joe’s Grill had been owned by Charles Schulze but had been made available to the town at no cost for public parking.

The 51 Housatonic St. house is protected from demolition through a one-year “demo-delay” bylaw approved by the Lenox Historical Commission until July.

Despite its dilapidated condition, the house has been described by commission Chair Olga Weiss as having “a pretty distinguished history, not one of our most distinguished by a long shot, but it's part of the streetscape. A very distinguished preservation architect said he had seen buildings in a lot worse condition."

She also said the architect, Steve McAlister of Clark + Green in Great Barrington, had suggested relocating the house to the corner of Church and Housatonic streets, for commercial use on the main floor and housing above, with parking in the rear.

By Clarence Fanto

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Chojnowski, reached by phone in Florida earlier this week, declined comment on any development plans for his new properties.

“I haven’t had time to figure out what I’m going to do with the two sites,” he said. He suggested he may have some plans to share in 10 days to two weeks.

He signed a purchase and sale agreement with the Schulze group on Nov. 5.

With the downtown parking crunch returning in June, the Department of Public Works will present a proposal to the Select Board in the near future.

Anthony Chojnowski, owner of the nearby Casablanca fashion boutique, has purchased a downtown Lenox parking lot and a rundown 1870 residence for a total of $1,175,000 from Schulze Lenox Properties LLC. He has not yet disclose his plans for the two sites.

DPW Superintendent William Gop and Town Planner Eammon Coughlin are brainstorming cost-effective ways to replace the number of parking spots that may be lost if the corner lot is developed.

For example, DPW has been considering the concept of reconfiguring Church Street from the Housatonic Street intersection to Franklin Street and Main Street as a one-way northbound.

“It would allow us to add a number of parallel parking places,” said Gop. “We’re speaking with property owners to make sure it makes sense.”

“If we go forward with the idea, we will propose a two-year pilot program to see how it works and obtain feedback,” Green added. “It’s just a concept, and requires minimal resources, so if it doesn’t work, we can always go back to two-way traffic flow.”