Garment District has a clothes call

Seven months ago, the historic, albeit run-down, old factory building at 200 Broadway was in danger of being razed and turned into condos. But that is not going to happen after all, and the Garment District, the funky clothing store cherished by Halloween revelers and bargain-loving fashionistas, is staying right there.

''We saved the place," an exuberant Chris Cassel, president of the Garment District Inc., announced last week. ''We won."

The store, which describes itself as an ''alternative department store," will be able to remain at its present location in the building near Kendall Square because of an agreement negotiated between Cassel and the City of Cambridge. The city will purchase from Cassel, for $2.9 million, a parcel at 125-127 Harvard St. behind the store to develop roughly 32 units of affordable housing.

''A no-brainer," said City Councilor Michael Sullivan, who was involved in the negotiations. He said acquisition of the site promotes mixed-use development that includes retail, open space, and affordable housing -- a major priority for the City Council.

For the deal to be successful, Cassel also bought out Brookline real estate developer Tani Halperin, his former co-owner, who wanted the building demolished. Cassel and Halperin purchased the building last May for $3.5 million.

Last year, Cassel said the only way he could retain some ownership of the store and the building was to purchase the property with Halperin.

CASCAP Inc., the private, nonprofit affordable housing developer that will build the units for the city, had eyed the parcel before Cassel purchased it, said CASCAP's CEO, Michael Haran. Construction could start in the spring of 2007, Haran estimated, with completion in the summer of 2008.

Cassel expressed appreciation for the support of the City Council in general and City Councilor Brian Murphy in particular, as well as for Sullivan, who served as mayor until earlier this month. Since the late spring of 2005, when it became public that the building might be torn down, ''people have come out of the woodwork, really," Cassel said. ''People were coming in, saying, 'What can I do?' "

He said the building will be renovated, but nothing else will change.

''I've always loved this place," Cassel said. ''It was important not to see it turn into condos and see it gone."