A heritage-listed building which has long sat dormant in the heart of Townsville is getting a facelift for the first time in four decades.
The Queens Building on Flinders Street, nicknamed the "Greasy Building" by locals, was recently bought by two Townsville residents and developers.
"This building has been in the ownership of one person for the past 40 years," Townsville City Council Mayor Jenny Hill said.
"Sadly it's been allowed to degrade, there's been very little maintenance done."
The building earned its nickname through the previous owner's unique way of deterring locals from standing too close to his shop, located in Townsville's nightclub precinct.
"He hated the nightlife and the activities so he covered the building in grease," Ms Hill said.
"We tried for years to get him to clean it up."
Now cleaning up the inside and outside of the building is a job for new owners Kayle Wright and Brodie Jankovic.
Big task ahead
"It's a lot of history but a lot of work," Mr Wright said.
"We can see the potential in it and Townsville City Council has been really supportive.
"The bones are good, it's just the cosmetic love that it needs."
Mr Wright hopes to clear out the building in the next few weeks before starting months of restoration work.
"I think he [the previous owner] has one of everything in there — building supplies trinkets, razors, barber chairs," he said.
"Upstairs is definitely full. I don't know how he got up there everything he got up there."
The Queens Building was constructed in 1887.
It was designed by Tunbridge and Tunbridge for the chemist Pio Armati, and named in honour of Queen Victoria's Jubilee year.
Real estate agent Troy Townsend said the building had a rich history in Townsville.
"[In] the 1950s Giustino Di Primio operated a barber shop and then a souvenir shop in there," he said.
"There's glass bottles with coke still in them.
"I think people are happy it's going to be renovated and brought back to life."
Local history
Mr Townsend said he was pleased to see confidence back in the local real estate market.
It is not the only heritage-listed building that Mr Wright and Mr Jankovic have dedicated themselves to restoring.
The Empire Hotel on McIlwraith in South Townsville was recently renovated by the duo, who hope to see the pub doors reopen in coming weeks.
Mr Wright, who grew up in Townsville, said he had always been intrigued by the history of the city's older buildings.
"The fact that no-one else wants to touch it and the history of these old buildings is what makes them really interesting," he said.
