- Revitalizing an 18,000 square foot building built in the 1900's aims to bring more people to the warehouse district.
- Overall the project will hold four commercial spaces and seven apartments.
- Watch the story to here why natives are coming back to the city to invest in their hometown.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
A new project is rebuilding an abandoned part of the city. I'm talking to the man whose investment aims to revive the long abandoned warehouse district.
"Coming back to Bainbridge I saw this beautiful but extremely dilapidated old building," said Brent Warr, owner of the Warehouse at Calhoun.
Warr is talking about the first time he laid eyes on this 18,000 square foot building he would soon own.
"Moving back and seeing how the town has progressed. The downtown area has progressed so much,” said Warr.
There was a time when the warehouse district was vibrant with a majority of black-owned businesses. Despite a rich history, it remained virtually abandoned for a number of years.
Now three businesses are here working to add value back into the neighborhood. "Somewhere for you to come to paint and create things.. and have fun,” according to Madison Laing, owner Hammer & Stain Bainbridge.
Hammer & Stain is a DIY crafts workshop that offers crafts for kids and sip and paint for adults. Laing tells me she hopes the businesses keep people in town.
"Our town is definitely growing. I don't feel like you should have to leave your town to have fun, said Laing.
I checked the U.S. Census.
Bainbridge has seen a growth in population from just over 12,000 people in 2010 to more than 14,000 in 2022.
New neighbors mean new customers for the other two new businesses here.
They include a small scale event space and the only dance studio in town.
Warr says he's excited to see how much a building from the 1900's has progressed and plans to continue being a part of the city's growth.
"I'll just be honest, ten years ago Bainbridge was a very different town,” said Warr.
The Warehouse at Calhoun plans to complete phase two of the project February 2024 by offering its first round of rental apartments.
Find out more here.
