One of the buildings purchased is the historic Carver Building, an eight-story structure occupying most of a city block at 1003 Central Ave. that was built in 1918. The Carver Building has remained vacant in recent years after the sale and relocation of Heartland Communications, a local company which at its peak housed more than 600 employees in the building.

“We are super excited to begin our downtown revitalization with the Carver Building,” said Todd McCubbin, one of the leaders in the Better Way Project. “The building is in great shape and it’s a shame that it has been sitting there empty when it could be such a key pillar of the local economy in downtown Fort Dodge.”

McCubbin said the previous owner is from Florida, and purchased the building solely for the income generated by the two cell phone towers on the roof.

“We don’t get the towers unfortunately, the seller gets to keep them via an easement agreement, but we now have the underlying building back under local control and can start filling it with businesses and other users to bring more life back to downtown,” he said.

The building will be managed by Cornerstone Property Management, owned by Better Way Project leaders Scott and Katie Underberg. Cornerstone will market the various office spaces and main floor retail spaces for lease, and are planning to offer initial tenants some very attractive incentives to being part of the downtown revitalization.

“Our plan is to be super creative in the leasing strategy,” Scott Underberg said. “We are currently talking to potential tenants and negotiating a variety of lease structures, including free or substantially discounted rent, a revenue share model where the landlord shares the tenant’s risk and participates in the income generated by the space in lieu of a fixed monthly payment, and we are even considering a program for new business startups wherein we would trade the value of what would ordinarily be rental payments for an ownership interest in new businesses who choose to locate there.”

“If you’ve ever watched the show ‘Shark Tank,’ you will probably better understand the variety of ways we can work with potential tenants to make them successful in downtown Fort Dodge,” he said.

Interested parties should contact Scott and Katie Underberg at Cornerstone Property Management for more details.

Katie Underberg, who handles the majority of daily operations for Cornerstone, said the Carver Building offers a variety of amenities for business tenants.

“The building is in really good shape, has a working elevator, lots of on-site parking, and a convenient circle driveway on the east side for picking up and dropping off employees and customers,” she said. “The upper floors offer some of the best views in Fort Dodge.”

Katie Underberg said the main floor has a combination of retail and office space available, and the upper floors would primarily be used for professional offices.

“There is a large space on the main floor that was once a drug store and malt shop that would be ideal for a deli, coffee, or downtown cafe concept,” she said.

Better Way Project leader Matt Johnson added that in the interim period until the building is leased up, some of the vacant space will be donated to local non-profit uses as part of the Better Way’s commitment to improving the quality of life for Fort Dodge residents.

“We are currently working with a group of homeschool providers to share the second and third floors of the building for use as classroom and play space,” he said. “They are already moving in, and we are excited to bring families and children back to downtown. There is another group planning a multi-media center on the fifth floor that we hope will serve as a creative hub for musicians, video production and even filmmaking.”

“We are exploring the idea of using one floor as a “third space” concept, a place for people to gather and work on projects, brainstorm, network and come together as a community,” Johnson said. “There are more ideas and conversations in the works for uses in other parts of the building, which is all part of our mission to bring new energy and new investment to downtown. Right now the building is pretty much a blank canvas and it’s fun to imagine all the awesome possibilities that can happen in all that space.”

Johnson added that the Better Way group sees a great deal of value in bringing people back downtown, even if the building isn’t able to generate much cash flow in the early months.

“If we’re going to revitalize downtown, we have to have movement and energy down there,” he said. “Giving people a reason to go downtown and start getting used to the idea that downtown once again has a lot to offer is the only way things are going to change.”

“We have been told many times in the past few weeks that we must be crazy or stupid to buy a vacant building of this size with its expensive property taxes, high insurance costs, utilities and maintenance expenses, but our feeling is, if nobody ever takes a risk and does something significant downtown, nothing will ever change,” he added. “As a community we all agree that something has to be done. Well, apparently nobody is going to come from the outside and save us, so we’re putting local money where our mouth is and we’re at least going to give it a shot.”

The group hopes that the revitalization of the Carver Building will be the catalyst for other new businesses and projects to happen downtown.

The other building purchased through the Better Way Project is 817 Central Ave., most recently the home of Candies & More and the past home of second-floor bars and nightclubs including Chevy’s and Solid Country. Built in 1890, the building is currently vacant and in need of repairs and remodeling.

“Unlike the Carver Building, we’re going to have to do quite a bit of work to 817 Central,” McCubbin said. “For starters we are getting bids on a new roof, new windows and some exterior upgrades to spruce up the building’s appearance, and then we’ll move to working on the inside.”

Scott Underberg said the east side of the main floor at 817 Central is currently improved with a retail space that could be remodeled to suit a new tenant, and that the west side serves as an entrance to the second floor bar and tavern space.

“The 817 building will be fun to bring back to life,” he said. “My wife Katie and I actually met there back in the ’90s so there’s definitely a personal interest in seeing the property restored to its former glory.”

Katie Underberg said that these two properties along with many others will soon be a part of the 2521 FD Community Fund, a real estate investment platform that focuses solely on investing in the Fort Dodge region.

“It’s been months of hard work establishing the fund, learning all of the available structures and legalities, and buttoning up all the details, but the buildout of the Fund is in its final stages and will soon be ready to launch,” she said.” There are so many great projects in the works, and so many different ways people can participate in the revitalization of Fort Dodge, we can’t wait to share it all.”