Future residents of the apartment complex under construction at the former Benedictine Monastery will have an on-site restaurant, local coffee shop, gym and business neighbors.
Fitness studio F45 has leased about 2,900 square feet in the new retail strip on the west end of the development at 800 N. Country Club Road.
Debbie Heslop and Leah Bogen, with Volk Co., negotiated the lease.
“In addition to F45 Fitness, we are in discussions with restaurant groups and a local coffee roaster,” owner Ross Rulney said.
Along with a restaurant in the new retail strip, Rulney expects to announce a restaurant inside the historic monastery.
Meanwhile, three complexes, with more than 250 units, continue to rise on the grounds.
The historic Benedictine Monastery was home for 80 years to the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, who sold it to developer Ross Rulney before moving to Missouri in 2017.
Inside the monastery itself, the former sleeping quarters for the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration — who lived there for 80 years — will be remodeled and rented out as office space, not apartments.
“The small, private offices will be available to the public for people who don’t want to go back to a big office,” Rulney said. “The small offices, between 90 and 200 square feet, could suit a lawyer, a CPA or a web designer.”
No rent prices have yet been determined for the offices or residential units.
Poster Mirto McDonald is the architect on the development and Sundt Construction is the general contractor.
Rulney, who bought the property in 2017, anticipates the project will be completed by October.
The nuns’ former sleeping quarters will be remodeled and rented out as office space. The small offices will be between 90 and 200 square feet. Three complexes will house apartments.
Photos: Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, Tucson Monastery
Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration
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Sister Ramona Varela, Prioress of the Benedictine Monastery, looks to see where workers are fixing the monasteries roof in 2009. The Trento Alpine Society, a thirty member choir from Trento, Italy donated their time to do a concert at the Benedictine Monastery. They helped the Monastery raise funds for the nuns $1 million Preserving Our Heritage campaign for restoration work at the monastery.
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Sister Lucia Anne Le stands ready to add in the cheese flavoring to a mixer as she makes a batch of the chedder cheese flavored popcorn at the Prayerfully Popped retail store in Tucson in 2011. The Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration have endured are trying to raise money to keep their historic monastery operating and make much needed repairs.
Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration
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Sister Lucia Anne Le mixes around the freshly popped popcorn as it falls out of the popper at the Prayerfully Popped retail store in Tucson in 2011. The Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration were raising money to keep their historic monastery operating and make much needed repairs.
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Sister Stella Cuniff sings during an afternoon mass with Sister Ramona Varela at the Benedictine Monastery in 2007.
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Sister Anita Valdez takes the glass of wine from Sister Margaret Mary Bielinski as part of communion during an afternoon mass at the Benedictine Monastery in 2007.
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Sister Carmela Rall works on her "Lady of Vladimir" icon painting in 2005 that will take her about a month to complete. She says she makes the eyes the focal point of her paintings since "they are the windows to the soul."
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Some of the $40 icons for sale by Sister Carmela Rall in 2005. She says she makes the eyes the focal point of her paintings since "they are the windows to the soul."
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A small desk in an alcove in the hallway of the residence area in the Benedictine Monastery in Tucson in 2006, a piece of furniture from the old Steinfeld mansion up for sale by the nuns.
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The Benedictine sisters, shown in 2005, spend part of their days at work, another part in prayer. In the computer area, Sister Mary Elizabeth Krone, front, and Sister Anita Valdez work on monastery business.
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Sister Barajas moves a 1920s-vintage vanity dresser as she arranges sale items in the monastery's basement in 2006. The starting bid on this piece is $450. All the furnishings in the photo were used at the Downtown mansion where merchant Albert Steinfeld and his family lived in the early part of the 20th century. The money raised will help keep the monastery operating.
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Bishop Gerald Kicanas delivers a sermon during a special mass at the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration Monastery in 2010. Attendees celebrated the 75th anniversary of the nuns coming to Tucson.
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Sister Dolores Dowling chats with Michel de Missy during a reception after Bishop Gerald Kicanas celebrated a special mass at the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration Monastery in 2010.
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During the reception, Sister Carmela Rall laughs with Angie Lopez after a special mass at the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration Monastery in 2010. Attendees celebrated the 75th anniversary of the nuns coming to Tucson.
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Andrew Griffith converses with Sister Mary Joy Heinlein while standing next to a table with fresh fruit, cheese and several breads after a special mass at the Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration Monastery, 800 N. Country Club Rd on November 21, 2010. Attendees celebrated the 75th anniversary of the nuns coming to Tucson at the request of then Bishop Daniel Gercke in 1935.
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Sister Pauline, checking the embroidery on a robe she sewed, provides many of the vestment robes for Tucson's Catholic priests with the help of just one other nun in 1998.
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Sister Valerie takes to her simple yet comfortable room for Lectio in 1998. At 3 a.m. the nuns go in private to read the bible, meditate on its passages or pray for about an hour.
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Sister Carmela laughs with her sisters in the kitchen during the after-dinner dish drying session in 1998. While most of their day is spent working or praying in relative solitude, dish-drying is a chance for all the nuns to be together, socialize, and tell jokes.
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Music Director Sister Theresa Marie Tremmel heads up the stairwell to the second floor of the monastery after morning prayer in 1998.
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Sister Mary Stella sits in the shade to pray her rosary at Benedictine Monastary in 1998.
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A 1963 photo of the Tucson Monastery of Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, 800 N. Country Club Road.
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Sister Estelle hands out a cup of coffee and an egg sandwich in 1978 at the Tucson Monastery of Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, 800 N. Country Club Road.
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Sister Marion makes Holy bread in 1986 at the Tucson Monastery of Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, 800 N. Country Club Road, Tucson
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Sister Marguerite sorts through newspapers in 1986 at the Tucson Monastery of Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, 800 N. Country Club Road, Tucson
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Sister Elsa maintains candles in 1978 in the sanctuary of the Tucson Monastery of Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, 800 N. Country Club Road.
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Sister Leona Eichenhofer, 90, prepares hosts for packaging in 1983 at the Tucson Monastery of Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, 800 N. Country Club Road.
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Sisters during afternoon prayer in 1986 at the Tucson Monastery of Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, 800 N. Country Club Road.
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A 1958 photo of the sanctuary of the Tucson Monastery of Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, 800 N. Country Club Road.
