POULSBO — A city block in downtown Poulsbo is still for sale after nearly two years on the market. Now a portion of the block is getting a facelift.

Silverdale-based Mentor Company is selling the section between King Olav Vei, King Harald Vei and Front Street. It originally listed the area at $4.8 million in 2008.

The area is still for sale, now for $3.8 million, and the company recently received city permits to update the storefront of Nilsen’s Appliance Center, a vacant section of the block.

The company plans to convert the 3,633 square-foot building into up to three separate storefronts, according to permitting documents. Most noticeable will be exterior remodeling, which will add doors and windows and give the building a Scandinavian color scheme, said Jennifer Mills, of the Mentor Company. The Nilsen’s building, formerly a blue and white downtown mainstay, is now a weathered gray.

After the remodeling, which will occur either later this summer or fall, the building will be leasable, Mills said.

Across the street, the storefronts of Burrata Bistro and Paella Bar are undergoing renovation. Solid State Construction is repairing and repainting a rotted awning, said construction worker Brian Shipman.

The block for sale by the Mentor Company includes four main parcels. One houses the Poulsbo Antique Mall. The others are the Nilsen’s building and vacant Grieg Hall and the former home of Olympic Outdoor Center, where Grundéns and Longship Marine operate.

Briefly in 2007 the Nilsen’s building was home to Armstrong Fitness University, but the business moved after struggling with building code violations.

Previously, Nilsen’s had become a landmark in Poulsbo. It was founded as North Kitsap Appliance in 1949 and closed its Poulsbo doors in 2007. The business now operates out of Silverdale.

The Mentor Company listed the block for sale after deciding its time was already committed to other projects, Mills told the Herald in 2008. Since then, it has attracted “some interest.”

A year earlier the company suggested the block as an option for Poulsbo’s new city hall when the city was soliciting proposals from developers.

The City of Poulsbo also has a large portion of downtown on the market. It is selling its current city hall site on Jensen Way to pay for the new building it decided to place at Moe Street and Third Avenue. The current site, listed for $1.25 million, has not yet attracted serious buyers, city leaders said. A section of the site has been eyed as a potential location for a parking garage, which would sit in the King Olaf parking lot. The lot was discussed as being the most promising and most cost-effective location, but the City has yet to take official action.

Learn more at www.mentorcompany.com or call (360) 692-3079.