The city of Natchez will sell the one-acre pecan factory site to a developer next month. (Historic Natchez Foundation)

Although a riverfront pecan-processing factory built in 1946 in Natchez, Miss., will be torn down next year for a condominium complex, the new buildings' design will fit into the city's historic district.

"We're going to lose the pecan factory, but we do have a condominium design that is now a village design," says Mimi Miller, director of preservation at the Historic Natchez Foundation, which worked with local developer Worley-Brown LLC to reach a compromise.

Worley-Brown's initial proposal for the one-acre site called for a 72-unit development that "looked a lot like large Florida condos," Miller says. "The city government [was] willing to disregard zoning and preservation laws to make sure the developers got everything they wanted."

However, Worley-Brown and its architect, Baton Rouge-based Grace Hebert, agreed to work with the foundation to find a new design for the complex. With a $3,000 grant from the National Trust's Southern Office, the foundation hosted a meeting to explore other options. After the November meetings with Boston-based architects Christopher Chadbourne and James Piatt, Worley-Brown settled on a five-building, 64-unit complex with underground parking and street facades that fit in with the historic downtown.

"It's a preservation success story," Miller says. "The developer has some handsome buildings that he can be proud of, and the people in Natchez will be pleased with their appearance." The city plans to sell the factory to Worley-Brown for $500,000 next month.

The pecan factory's demolition is not yet set in stone. Under a state law called the antiquities act, the state department of archives and history must rule on the proposed demolition of a publicly owned historic property. The vote is scheduled for next month.

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