The former MeadWestvaco building is almost ready for new occupants.

Once known for the Big Chief tablet, the old factory on Mitchell Avenue is now home to an indoor track, atriums and a rooftop garden.

Developers and brothers Scott and Steve Foutch purchased the building in 2007 and have nearly completed refurbishing the almost 500,000-square-foot space.

“You name it, it’s happened. And everything has slowed us down,” Steve Foutch said.

Steve Foutch and the leasing manager, Nancy Lee, said people are waiting to move in.

“They’ve already paid their deposits,” Ms. Lee said.

While the Foutch brothers don’t consider themselves trendsetters, Steve Foutch said he realizes that what his company is doing is different.

The Mitchell Park Plaza will feature 258 apartments and 72 corporate apartments. The plan is to have two restaurants, a deli and coffee shop and a concierge service available on the first floor. There is an atrium on every floor; and on the second floor, an indoor basketball court, pool, track and fitness facility. Tenants also will be able to enjoy a 20,000-square-foot rooftop garden with hot tubs and an outdoor movie theater in addition to underground parking.

The self-sustaining plaza will create jobs as well. There will be a need for 10 to 15 management positions on site.

There also will be at least 100 security cameras around the property, with card keys to allow entrance to the facility.

The Foutch brothers have designed other projects in St. Joseph and are currently planning another seven historic conversions throughout the Midwest.

In the beginning, the project met some conflict, stirred mostly from rumor, said Steve Holdenried, a resident in the neighborhood. He said that both brothers have made a point to become members of the community.

“They have come to our meetings,” Mr. Holdenried said of the Neighborhood Watch and neighborhood association meetings. “They support it, and they’re good people.”

Most members of the neighborhood plan on attending an open house in November for the new apartments to show their support, according to Mr. Holdenried.

The Foutch brothers, who renovated the market-rate Lofts@415, received a Chapter 353 Tax Abatement and other state tax credits toward the remodel of the Mead building.

Former MeadWestvaco employees and the public will be given tours of the building from 10 a.m. to noon on Nov. 1. Steve Foutch said that when the employees come to see the old building, they may still be able to find the exact spot in which they worked.

“We kept the architectural integrity of the building,” he said.

Certain elements of the building were structurally sound and those parts of the building’s history stayed, including the half-painted and numbered pillars throughout the building.

“You have to work around what’s there with older buildings,” he said.

Jennifer Hall can be reached at jennhall@npgco.com.