Reclaiming Main Street

ANAMOSA - A bistro, a hair salon, a coffee shop and assorted offices line Main Street in Anamosa. But as with many small communities across Iowa, there also are several used-to-be's - the empty store fronts that used to be a laundromat, a hardware store, a law firm or a barbershop.

'We are like a lot of small towns. We have a lot of properties that are empty, and when they sit empty, they affect the properties of everyone else,” said Betty Weimer, owner of Grounds and Goodies on Main Street and who renovated the second floor from a warehouse into a home.

'When you don't have people in the buildings and you don't have them maintained, you don't have them kept up, and you have a larger risk of losing your downtown.”

A number of small communities, including Anamosa, which 5,500 people call home, have tried to shift the conversation around vacancies - these aren't drains but opportunities.

And they are highlighting the possibilities through afternoon or evening tours, often self-guided, showcasing vacant commercial spaces.

The concept has been gaining steam in smaller communities around Iowa and the country. The hope is to spark conversations among those on the tour and spread it to out-migrated friends and relatives who may have forgotten the possibilities back home or to potential investors a few counties away.

Groundswells

"What they did is went home and talked about it. Went to coffee shops and talked about it. Called their family and talked about it," said Deb Brown, executive director of the Webster City Area Chamber of Commerce, one of the early adopters of the tour concept. "It created a groundswell."

Eight of the 12 spaces included on the Tour of Empty Buildings, some of which had been vacant for years, were filled within 18 months, she said.

In Anamosa, a group of business owners, community leaders and residents put together a Tour of Opportunities on Oct. 26. The group to reclaim identified vacant spaces that, if filled, would help recharge Main Street.

'The goal is getting people to see the opportunity,” said Dusty Embree, director of Jones County Economic Development. 'Even if they are local, they may not come down here very often. The goal is getting people in the buildings and seeing the potential.”

The organizers started by tracking down property owners to gauge interest.

After reaching the owner of the long-vacant space at 103 E. Main St., they learned he wanted to sell but hadn't bothered to list the property, Embree said. He named his price - $14,995 for a building with 1,700 square feet of commercial on the main floor and two two-bedroom apartments on the second floor - and added his property to the tour.

'It would really be a great opportunity, even if they did have to put money in, which they would need to do,” Embree said.

In all, the event included eight properties available for rent or lease, and another three renovated or creatively used spaces. Organizers prepared information packets for each property that included size, cost and financing options, and professionals on hand such as Realtors and lenders could answer questions about interest rates and grant opportunities.

A week after the event, one of the properties was on the verge of being sold, Embree said.

Webster City was one of the first to give the tour a shot in Iowa.

‘Do it in public'

Deb Brown, an applicant for the chamber position in 2013, was familiarizing herself with the area, which she learned was still in a 'poor me syndrome” after the largest employer, Electrolux, closed shop and moved jobs to Juarez, Mexico, she recalled.

'I saw a lot of empty buildings, and it bothered me,” she said. 'People don't talk about them in public. They do it behind closed doors in closed meetings.

'My thought was, let's do it in public and show people what we have.”

Brown was hired, and within weeks held the tour. It was publicized it on radio and in the newspaper and, similar to the tour in Anamosa, lenders were on hand to talk about interest rates and what the terms of loans might look like.

The owners of properties also participated to discuss past uses of the buildings.

After the event, a young couple from Chicago with ties to the area moved back and opened a clothing store. Another woman from 50 minutes away in Providence, decided to buy a building to open SOS Vintage clothing store and eventually moved to town, Brown said.

And a community collective purchased and renovated the old movie theater.

'It changed the tenor of the conversation from ‘poor me ‘to ‘we can do things,'” she said.

The commercial tour also generated interest from the blogosphere, including SmallBizSurvival.com. Brown was soon getting calls from Jewell; Fairport Harbor, Ohio; Natchez, Miss.; and as far as Charleville, Australia, for advice.

The National Association of Realtors asked Brown to participate in a webinar for business leaders.

The effort was coupled with an incubator project, in which some retail spaces are offered for three months of free rent and reduced rates for the remainder of the first year.

Karla Thompson, executive director of Dyersville Area Chamber of Commerce, caught wind of the idea and helped organized the Available Store Front Tour.

Retail in Dyersville, a community of 4,115, is challenged by urbanization as residents often shop in Dubuque where many also work. The tour in early October featured 11 locations, including one that was snatched up within a week - Pierce PC Care.

As part of the event, spectators were encouraged to jot down ideal fits as they visited each location, which economic development leaders plan to incorporate into recruiting efforts.

That's because, despite early success, the tours aren't expected to work overnight, but playout over time.

'Dyersville is a community where family comes back,” Thompson said. 'Our goal was to get the word out.”