Eric Almquist bought the Kaufman building in Corning for $1 in October 2010, saying he had big renovation plans for the old, dilapidated Solano Street structure.

One year later, the 17,000 square-foot building remains in disrepair and is again on the market.

The property, which takes up half the 1300 block on the north side of Solano Street, is listed online by commercial real estate service LoopNet, under the title “Historical Retail Sale Listing – Kaufman Building,” with an asking price of $450,000.

Almquist said the building isn’t really listed “for sale,” but that he listed it with the hopes of finding investors interested in helping him fund the renovation work.

Corning Planning Director John Stoufer said he spoke with Almquist about a week ago, at which time Almquist said he was looking at potential funding sources, such as grants and loans to help with the renovation project.

A general building contractor and real estate broker from Yankee Hill, Almquist purchased the property from the Mark and Sherry Ephland family after Corning declined the Ephlands’ offer at the same $1 price.

The Kaufman building was built in 1883 by Charles Kaufman and his brother, and was a general merchandise establishment, which specialized in tinware.

A discount food store Almquist opened in July on the ground floor of the building is now closed, but two tenants remain, Corning Locksmith and Azteca Tech.

“I don’t know what happened to the food store,” said Cecilio Beltran, owner of Azteca Tech. “One day it was there, and the next it was closed.”

According to Almquist, the people running the store left with much of the merchandise in the middle of the night, and the closure was due to a business problem.

“I am considering re-opening the store,” he said. “I still have all my plans in order to involve the Kaufman Building in my veterans employment program.”

Some of the ideas Almquist has thrown around include converting the building into an antique shopping mall, while leaving the sites currently occupied by businesses where they are. He also said he may be using parts of the building to create jobs and income for veterans in his transitional living and substance abuse treatment program in Oroville.

“The building will be part of the Oroville Economic and Community Development Corporation and a potential income stream to assist my nonprofit substance abuse facility and program in Oroville,” Almquist said.

At one time the building was reported to be “suffering basic failure in a number of areas,” according to City Manager Steve Kimbrough.

Almquist said he discussed the matter with preservation architect Roger Klemm, who studied the building 10 years ago and again in September 2010.

In a letter to the city, Klemm wrote, “In my best professional opinion ,the Kaufman building does not appear to be in any imminent danger of collapse.”

Klemm told the city “it seems prudent to act carefully,” and feels the building can “be restored and converted to good use.”

Almquist believes the building to be sound and wants to continue with his plans if he can get investors involved.

“We have been delayed in our plans, but are making progress,” he said.

Almquist believes the project could produce 19 jobs for recovering veterans from his Victory Village abuse treatment program, operated by Northern California Treatment Services.