Millennials Redeveloping a Town

“When we took it over it was a Bill’s Dollar Store that looked like the metal clad building across the street. Before that it was the post office and a theater that dated back to 1901,” Blane Carpenter and Joshua Miller, both 29 years of age, were telling me about the history of the main building in downtown Ellisville, MS, (population 3,900) that they had redone over the past two years.

They went on, “We bought it for $120,000 and now have about $650,000 in it without counting our labor. It took us about six months just to demo and clean it up before we even started doing any build-out.”

Adding a balcony to the building really enhanced its appearance. Blane and Joshua ended up with six commercial units on the first floor and six apartments (4 with 2 bedrooms and 2 with one bedroom) in the 12,600 sf building.

As I toured the building with them, they pointed out that most of the apartments are rented out to 20 year olds, just like them, who are all on entrepreneurial career tracks. It is exactly these young entrepreneurs and professionals that a downtown redevelopment like this can bring to a town like Ellisville.