Work begins on new Creative Touch Boutique in downtown Alexandria

Construction in downtown Alexandria — Construction crews work on footings for the new Creative Touch Boutique building next to Bazara in downtown Alexandria Wednesday. The new three-story building is being built on the corner of 5th Avenue and Broadway where several buildings were destroyed by a fire in February of 2020. It will include retail, warehouse and office space for Creative Touch Boutique. Bazara, formerly Charlie's Bazaar, was also destroyed in the fire and was rebuilt last summer.

By Celeste Edenloff

July 27, 2022 at 2:43 PM

ALEXANDRIA — Work has begun on the new three-story Creative Touch Boutique building at the corner of Broadway and 5th Avenue.

The city's building department estimated the value of the property at $3.65 million.

In January of 2022, owners of the downtown Alexandria boutique announced their plans for their new space on the store's Facebook page. And in an Echo Press article shortly after , they revealed more details about the building.

Dan and Pam Botker, along with their daughter, Amy Lesnar, own Creative Touch Boutique , a clothing, home decor and gift store that currently sits on Broadway between 5th and 6th Avenues.

CreativeBoutique Owners.jpg — The owners of Creative Touch Boutique are Pam and Dan Botker and their daughter, Amy Lesnar.

The lot where the new building is going previously housed several businesses, including Raapers, a restaurant owned by Cammie and Andy Rassat , along with five other businesses, which were all lost after a devastating fire tore through that part of the downtown area in February 2020.

Creative Touch Boutique owners explained that the main floor of the new building will be retail space for their store with the second floor being warehouse space for product, staff space and a photo studio. They are looking to expand the online shopping portion of their business. The third floor of the building will have office space and conference rooms that will be available for rent.

CreativeBoutique Drawing.jpg — This rendering of the new Creative Touch Boutique building was created by Katie Botker of Infinite Design Consulting of Alexandria. The new three-story building will sit on the corner of Broadway and 5th Avenue in downtown Alexandria.

The design of the building was done by the Botker’s daughter-in-law, Katie Botker, who owns Infinite Design Consulting, an architectural drafting and design services business in Alexandria.

The goal for opening the new store is summer of 2023. As for the old location, all that was said is, “The space has been spoken for.”

By Celeste Edenloff

Celeste Edenloff is the special projects editor and a reporter for the Alexandria Echo Press. She has lived in the Alexandria Lakes Area since 1997. She first worked for the Echo Press as a reporter from 1999 to 2011, and returned in 2016 to once again report on the community she calls home.