Developer Joe Barnes is planning a rooftop deck on the Astoria Building on 14th Street.

Barnes recently purchased the building for $2 million from Christie Robinson, the owner of Astoria Building LLC. The two-story building wraps around the three-story Commodore Selina in the Lewis Building. Barnes purchased the hotel building last year and leased it to the global hotel chain Selina.

The ground floor of the Astoria Building includes Pet Works on 14th Street and Oregon Gypsy Gallery on Commercial Street. Neither tenant has reported any significant changes.

The upstairs includes 14 apartments Barnes has renamed J&J Flats. Barnes recently painted the building a fresh coat of orange but said he doesn’t plan on any significant changes inside.

Barnes had been in negotiations with Selina to build a speakeasy in the basement of the Commodore. But he said he has instead shifted focus toward opening the roof of the Astoria Building for tenants and hotel patrons.

“I’m doing the deck no matter what, just so those guys have a place to barbecue up there,” he said. “But Selina is expressing interest in leasing some space up there and doing something similar to the (Hotel) Elliott.

“It’s better money well-spent on that unique rooftop deck,” he said. “As of now, there’s no place in Astoria where a patron can get a soda pop and go upstairs and sit on a rooftop deck.”

The deck won’t happen until spring at the earliest, Barnes said. He had planned to let patrons of Street 14 Cafe access the deck. But the future of Street 14 is unsure after owner Micha Lattek announced the closure of the cafe for the foreseeable future because of financial constraints. Lattek started an online fundraiser to reopen the cafe.

Barnes said he now owns about 80 apartments in Astoria between the Astoria, Osburn-O’Brien and Fisher Brothers buildings downtown and the 5th Street Flats near the Old Youngs Bay Bridge. Barnes added a new tenant in the Osburn-O’Brien Building at the corner of 14th and Commercial streets, where Capricorn Pub & Fine Foods took over the space formerly occupied by Thiel’s Music.

Barnes said he plans to raise rents at all of his apartments. State law prohibits more than a 9.2% rent increase in 2021 — a maximum of 7% in addition to changes in the consumer price index.

“As landlords, we kind of have to keep up with the market,” Barnes said. “If you get too far behind, you get in trouble. As of now, everything’s staying the same until we get through this. But so far, we’ve weathered the pandemic storm fairly well.”