FROM THE MAGAZINE
Urban Living in a Rural Community
As I have shared all of the amazing things happening in our Hometown Le Mars I have focused on several pieces of the community development puzzle.
New businesses, entertainment, tourism, industry, and housing. Inside the housing piece there are several facets…entry level, work force, apartments, duplexes, a broad range of single-family homes and 55+ but there is another unique offering that is often overlooked, downtown loft living. Mike and I are the proud owners of several 100+ year old commercial buildings downtown that we have or are in the process of renovating with the goal of providing unique commercial main floor spaces for unique businesses while offering luxury second floor living opportunities.
We along with several other property owners downtown have taken on the challenge of loving on these old buildings to bring back their time period beauty while investing in the infrastructure to provide the experiences that today’s consumers and renters expect. The attention to detail of the exteriors of these beloved buildings is what first catches the eye, to see old buildings looking like new reminds you of the fact that our community was established over 150 years ago and gives you a glimpse of days gone by. The interiors in most cases require a full renovation to include electrical, plumbing, framing, and thoughtful design. The commercial spaces have attracted new businesses as well as provided new locations for existing, but the magic is really on the second floor.
In Le Mars you can experience urban living with the benefits of living in a rural community.
Urban loft living typically refers to the conversion of former industrial or commercial spaces into residential units, characterized by open floor plans, high ceilings and exposed architectural elements. In Le Mars the majority of the two-story commercial buildings originally housed the shop owner’s business on the main floor, and they lived upstairs, in some cases there were commercial businesses on both levels.
Today some of those spaces remain empty but for many the opportunity to provide luxury loft living in a walkable downtown like ours has been a great opportunity. Imagine living in a two-bedroom, three bath 1,700 square foot loft where within 3 blocks you have access to a coffee shop, an ice cream parlor, flower shops, gift shops, hair salons, barber shops, clothing stores for all ages and genders, a movie theater, a meat market, a bakery, the Postal Playhouse, the Browns Theater and Event Space, Kass Aesthetics, the post office and arts center, the library, several restaurants, a nail salon, a bike shop, a bookstore, a grocery store, a jewelry store, a chocolate shop, a local brewery and a couple of bars, as well as a couple of really good family eye care clinics and of course you would need a bank and we have a couple of those downtown too.
A couple of the newest additions are The Market and also Sacred Wellness, which I will share more about next time, as well as a speakeasy that is under construction. Shh, it’s a secret.
One of the other things that we have downtown is the Olson Cultural Event Center where we have our Farmers Market and lots of other community events.
Engage Le Mars is over 3 years old, and they put on concerts several times a year, and they are expanding to include more things in the very near future. There is a new Brew Fest that just celebrated their inaugural festival in August, and it was successful. Every June we have the Ice Cream Days celebration on Father’s Day week from Wednesday to Saturday, and then on the Saturday after Thanksgiving we will be having our 6th Christmas in Hometown Le Mars Event. There are so many great things going on just in downtown Le Mars and many other things throughout the city.
It’s exciting what’s happening in our downtown.
It has been fun to see many downtown lofts being renovated, as well as the Brown’s Theater also has a second-floor inn that is beautiful, and we have had guests that stayed there in their suites. There are two big, beautiful lofts that are above Mescher’s Men’s Store also that are owned by Terry Clausen, the former men’s store owner. We have a couple of buildings under construction now that will have new businesses on the main floors and we are doing really nice luxury lofts above that will have each have two car garages, which is a first downtown, and maybe not the last.
This is not all just by chance, but because of lots of people working together and investing in our little community. We invite you to come and shop, eat, play, and maybe even live in Hometown Le Mars.