The group is called The Better Way Project. Its members are Matt Johnson, Todd McCubbin, and Scott and Katie Underberg.

Since October, the group has purchased these buildings:

• the Carver Building.

• 817 Central Ave.

-Submitted photo
The former Land O'Lakes building at 2827 Eighth Ave. S. has sat empty for several years. The Better Way Project leaders plan to clean up the building and prepare it for potential new uses.

• the former Land O’ Lakes building.

• Atrium on Central.

Johnson summed up the goal of The Better Way project by explaining that if no one ever takes a risk and does something significant downtown, nothing will change.

“As a community, we all agree that something has to be done,” he said. “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.”

Johnson added that The Better Way Project sees a great deal of value in bringing people back downtown.

-Submitted photo
Earlier this month, The Better Way Project announced its acquisition of the building at 1012 Central Ave., renamed the Atrium on Central.

“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.”

Carver Building

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 was vacant in recent years after the sale and relocation of Heartland Communications, 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,” McCubbin said. “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.

“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,” Johnson said shortly after the purchase was announced.

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.

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.

817 Central Ave.

The building at 817 Central Ave. was 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 Ave. 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.”

Former Land O’Lakes building

In November, The Better Way Project announced its purchase of the former Land O’Lakes building at 2827 Eighth Ave. S.

“Everyone in town has been driving past this once-beautiful property for the last few years watching it sit empty and decay before our eyes,” McCubbin said. “In its day, the building was home to a successful company contributing great jobs and a super positive impact on our community. Since Land O’Lakes left, it’s just sitting there vacant and the last owner was able to buy it online from his apartment in New York for pennies on the dollar.”

“To make matters worse, last winter the heat was never turned on, which caused pipes to break and now our first project is going to be remediating the mold inside the building,” he added. “The property still has great bones, good mechanical systems and a ton of potential, it just needs someone to roll up their sleeves and get to work. And that’s what The We’re doing the things that need to be done.”

The Underbergs will help oversee the building’s revitalization.

“Cleaning it up is obviously a priority,” Scott Underberg said, “as well as getting security in place to ward off the vandalism and vagrants. We’ve already had to replace several broken windows.”

“The future of this property is still unknown, but there are a lot of potential new uses that we are exploring,” he added. “We have a working concept for some public/municipal uses that we are going to explore first, and will then look at marketing the property as potential corporate offices to bring jobs and economic stimulus back to the area.”

Katie Underberg said the former Land O’Lakes building would make a great home for one or more companies looking for new and affordable office space.

“Once it’s cleaned up, the building is really quite nice and will show well,” she said. “The space is flexible and can easily be divided into more than one suite of offices to accommodate different users. It’s centrally located near the Corridor Plaza commercial district and there’s plenty of on-site parking. We’re super excited to get this building back into production in Fort Dodge.”

Atrium on Central

Earlier this month, The Better Way Project announced its acquisition of the building at 1012 Central Ave.

Originally known as The Arcadian, the building is reputed to be the first shopping mall in Fort Dodge. The layout consists of multiple small retail, office and service suites with a central atrium accentuated by a skylight.

It was built in 1914, according to online records of the Webster County Assessor’s Office.

“This building is so cool and we are super excited to bring new life back to it,” McCubbin said.

“The center atrium area is a perfect gathering place for people who come downtown to stroll through shops and enjoy the beauty of our downtown area,” he added. “Renaming it the Atrium on Central helps capture the uniqueness of the space.”

According to Johnson, the Atrium on Central building offers potential synergies with the Carver Building across the street.

“We are gaining a lot of momentum filling up space in the Carver Building downtown, which is bringing more people here every day,” he said. “More people means more demand for services, retail and other needs, which creates opportunities for small businesses to serve the needs of the growing downtown customer base.”