Upstairs Downtown: Upper-level spaces in downtown Mitchell show promise of area

• Converted warehouse apartment

Rennie and Marty DeBoer’s converted warehouse apartment features two massive bedrooms, a porch and a fireplace.

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• PHOTO GALLERY: Downtown apartments

Things are looking up in downtown Mitchell, people who toured four upper-level apartments were told Thursday night. The tour was part of the final Third Thursdays on Main event sponsored by Mitchell Main Street & Beyond. Dozens of people visited three occupied apartments and one space that may be converted into one.

MMS&B Executive Director Molly Goldsmith said the point of the tour was to let people see for themselves what is being down with the upper levels of some downtown buildings, and to create more interest in downtown. It seemed to do that, as people lined sidewalks and cars filled parking spaces.

Rennie and Marty DeBoer’s large, airy, bright apartment on the second floor of 115 E. Third Ave. dazzled people who came there during a walking tour. The apartment has 3,300 square feet and was reconfigured from a warehouse. The building has four businesses downstairs, including Bonnie’s DeKor directly below the apartment.

Up a short flight of stairs is a home packed with personal touches and décor. Walls were erected to create bedrooms, an office, a bathroom and a winding hallway.

“We love it,” Rennie DeBoer said. “We love it here. We’re at that age, the kids are all gone, and we don’t need a yard.”

Jen Jungwirth chatted with people as they toured her two-bedroom apartment in the 400 block of North Main Street.

Jungwirth has lived in the apartment for two years and said she loves being in the core of the city. She said it’s affordable — $450 a month — and safe and quiet.

“I think it’s good for people to see what downtown offers,” Jungwirth said.

Tama Backlund, Nikki Porter, Deb Olson and Jackie Berggren were impressed by her tidy, charming apartment. They said they weren’t looking for living quarters, but were curious to see what downtown offers.

Lacey Bechen, a co-owner of 119 and 121 N. Main St., showed a large, open space above the City Hair and Day Spa at 121 N. Main St. It would be an ideal spot for a loft apartment, Bechen said. The space was formerly used as a service kitchen for the American Legion and needs to be remodeled to be converted into a living space, she said.

“It’s just a matter of getting the finances,” she added. Goldsmith opened her own apartment for the tour. She has lived there since she came to Mitchell in 2011 and said she finds little reason to leave downtown, where she works, lives and shops. “I preach it,” she said. Goldsmith said more downtown building tours will be held in 2013.

Tags: life, updates, living, downtown, local, mitchell