(PRESS RELEASE / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
DOWNTOWN HILLSDALE PLANS … Luke Robson (right), founder and president of Hillsdale Renaissance LLC, recently told Archbold Rotarians about his plan for revitalizing the downtown of Hillsdale, Michigan, his adopted hometown, after decades of decline. The program was arranged by Levi Wyse (left).
PRESS RELEASE – Hillsdale, Michigan got its start as a railroad town in 1834 and became a college town a few years later. All of that set the stage for it to become the prosperous county seat of Hillsdale County with as many as 12 factories and a thriving downtown.
However, fortunes changed, factories closed and by the late 1980s it was a city in decline. Only two of the factories remained.
And, the town’s largest employers – Hillsdale College and the hospital – were both vital anchors for the community, but as non-profits both were exempt from paying property taxes to support the town.
And, the town’s decline made it increasingly difficult for the college and hospital to hire talented professionals to live and work in Hillsdale.
The downtown had seen better days, buildings were empty and those that were occupied needed major renovations.
That’s when Luke Robson, a Hillsdale College grad who fell in love with the community while at Hillsdale, steps in. After graduating from the college in 2017 he ultimately returned to Fargo, North Dakota where he grew up.
When the family business there was sold, he decided to turn his share of the sale into a real estate development company – Hillsdale Renaissance LLC in 2022.
His plan was to purchase most of the downtown buildings and begin to make improvements to the buildings, attract tenants who would bring a variety of unique, interesting shops to occupy the street level portions of the buildings and use the upper floors to create housing.
He explained that most of the buildings were either empty or under-utilized. They were relatively inexpensive to purchase, but needed extensive up-dating and repairs that generally cost at least three times the purchase price.
While keeping and cleaning up the historic features of the downtown, he said the renovations often focus on structural issues that need to be fixed such as roofs as well as the HVAC systems, plumbing and electrical updating that had been neglected.
Robson explained what a vibrant downtown Hillsdale will look like and gave examples of how progress is being made.
Perhaps the future that he is most excited about is the creation of a National Academy for the Building Arts in partnership with Hillsdale College.
He explained it will be a specialized trade school that focuses on teaching historic skills such as woodworking, stained glass and other traditional forms of art that aren’t being taught in many places as part of a college degree program.
He later said that he hopes many aspects of the downtown revitalization project will be completed in the next five years.