|
September/2012
Kilbourne Group News
(The newsletter of Downtown Fargo's revitalization team.) |
|
Group moving forward to improve U.S. Bank Plaza in downtown Fargo
 | |
This map illustrates what portion of the block Kilbourne Group is interested in purchasing. |
FARGO, N.D. - Kilbourne Group continues to move ahead with plans to improve the highly visible U.S. Bank block after the bank extended its real-estate option agreement with us for one more year. We also have hired Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) as lead architects on the one-block, mixed-use development project in downtown Fargo.
U.S. Bank's decision to extend its option period shows a commitment to continue working with Kilbourne Group on development plans for the block. Since the Doug Burgum-led company entered into a purchase option agreement with U.S. Bank in July of 2009, Kilbourne Group has funded extensive economic and design feasibility studies to find the most thoughtful and responsible ways to approach infill construction in this space.
The U.S. Bank-owned, 1.1-acre space covers the west half of the 200 Block east of Broadway between Second and Third Avenue North. The optioned land is currently occupied by a pedestrian plaza and surface parking. The City of Fargo owns the northeast corner of the same block, which formerly was the location of a parking ramp and is now surface parking. The U.S. Bank building is not included in the option agreement.
Based on public feedback and suggestions from a Kilbourne-sponsored design competition in 2010, current plans for this project include an updated plaza space and a healthy, sustainable mix of retail, business and residential space, as well as a parking ramp. Kilbourne Group is also working with TMI Hospitality, Inc., a Fargo-based builder and operator of hotels, to explore possible hotel concepts for the project.
The KG team also is meeting with architects from SOM on potential design ideas. SOM is a Chicago-based architectural firm that has built an international reputation for creating progressive, thoughtfully designed urban centers. If all goes well, Mike Allmendinger, Kilbourne's general manager, anticipates that Kilbourne could break ground on the project in a year. |
|
|
'Circles' art installation now at 300 Broadway
Mara Morken has done it again.
After wowing Kilbournians and bypassers with other art projects like the "Chalk" public art display on Loretta last spring, Mara lent her creative hands to another KG project: an ethereal, alabaster chandelier of circles, monofilament and beads -- titled "Circles"-- in the atrium at 300 Broadway. Here's the rundown on Mara's lovely creation, by the numbers:
- The piece itself hangs from roughly 17 feet in the air and is 12 feet wide by 10 feet deep and about 6 feet high.
- Mara used 17,280 acrylic beads, 1,080 glass or crystal beads, 8,640 discs made out of 110-pound card stock and about 2,000 yards of various-weight monofilament line to create it. Working with the monofilament was surprisingly tough on the hands, Mara says.
- It took the artist, and various assistants, about 120 labor hours to create it. In fact, the process was captured on a time-lapse video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YekKJxs4tQQ
 | | "Circles," as photographed by Christopher Smith. |
|
Boerth's: same location, same name, new owner
 | | Michael Rohr is the new owner of Boerth's Art Gallery on Broadway. |
The Swiss native bought Boerth's Art Gallery and Design Studio, a downtown institution, from long-time owner Doug Scraper last spring. He's already made many changes, including a window-front stage where people can observe artists creating art. And his future plans include a commercial design team, an online store and even a furniture section.
That furniture facet especially pleases Rohr. More than 100 years ago when J. Benjamin Bergstrom and William Crowe moved their growing business into 208 and 210 Broadway, they sold furniture.
The store stayed in that location until 1969 when the business moved to the southern edge of town. Along the way, Loretta hosted many other businesses: the first Scheels hardware, a hot dog shop, a stereo store, clothing stores and, since 1977, the family-owned Boerth's.
Now, a century later, the store's specialty has come full circle. Rohr will offer accent furniture such as small tables or accent chairs. "Our furniture is going to be nice, high-end and European-inspired," Rohr says. "I create art in people's homes."
From Zurich to Fargo
And it's a specialty that makes Rohr feel right at home. He grew up in a creative and free-spirited household in Switzerland with his father, a cutting-edge computer programmer, and mother, an art therapist for the mentally handicapped. Rohr attended a design school in Zurich where he learned how to design and build high-quality furniture. He later headed the visual team at Zurich's largest department store, where window displays were an art form.
"Our goal was to be the talk of the town," he says. "We'd start planning for Christmas in June."
Rohr made the unlikely leap from Zurich to Fargo when his then-wife decided to attend college at NDSU. In the U.S., Rohr's career thrived. He worked at Ethan Allen and Slumberland and his design skills quickly made an impression. Before long, he'd transitioned from a sales job at Slumberland to a corporate position traveling around the country to teach staff at other stores about interior design and sales.
Rohr now thanks his best friend, Dan Hendrick, for the opportunity to get off the road and become a downtown Fargo business owner.
At that time, Rohr planned to return to his home country in a few months. Then Hendrick hosted a dinner party, to which he invited Hendrick's future wife, Shannon Scraper, her good friend Heidi Iverson and Rohr.
Designing his own business
It turned out to be a fortuitous feast. Rohr not only met Scraper, the daughter of Boerth's owners Doug and Kathy Scraper, he also met his current wife-to-be, Iverson. They married in 2006.
Last winter, when Doug Scraper began considering retirement, Rohr began considering a job that would allow him to spend more time at home with his family. Shannon mentioned something to Heidi, connections were made and the rest was history.
Today, the endlessly energetic Rohr has all sorts of plans for his new enterprise. Of course, Boerth's will continue to be called Boerth's and it will continue to offer artwork and framing. But Rohr wants to offer more monthly events, displays by several local artists every month, expanded home-decor services and a regional design studio. "It would be open to any designer in the area to use for free," he says.
"I've been looking for years for my own little enterprise," the self-described "modern pioneer" says. "I arrived here one day with two suitcases. And today, to own one of the oldest stores in Fargo, which I was able to buy from a friend, I never dreamed of that."
|
|
Downtown Halberstadt's: It's where it's at
 | | Assistant manager Alex Dahl (left) and manager Barry Gruchow. |
Tim Halberstadt couldn't ignore the buzz.
It was coming from the north, and it was all about downtown Fargo.
He and his brother Jeff, co-owners of the Halberstadt's men's clothing stores, kept hearing how Fargo's central core was booming. So when they learned about the vacancy of a large store at one of the city's busiest downtown intersections, they knew they'd found the ideal locale for their next store.
"We were looking for the right spot in downtown," says Tim from the brothers' Sioux Falls, S.D, store. "When we saw that corner is available, we didn't need to look anymore."
The shop, located at 102 Broadway, shares an intersection with successful neighbors like the Hotel Donaldson and Royal Jewelers. It has a long history as a menswear store, once housing the long-lived haberdasher, Straus Clothing.
In operation since December, Halberstadt's on Broadway fits the "high roller" concept, which means it specializes in high-end labels like Eton, Faconnable, Robert Graham and Canali. The store also offers a "made to measure" program, which can produce a custom-made suit for the sartorially-inclined in two to three weeks.
The store is one of the only retailers in town to sell Diesel and Hugo Boss jeans, says Barry Gruchow, manager of the downtown store. Its formalwear program - which allows aspiring prom-goers or groomsmen to buy a suit, shirt and tie for just $129 - is also popular. (And there's no need to squeeze into those uncomfortable, plastic rental shoes!)
Gruchow says he's lived downtown for 4½ years, so was well-acquainted with the area's vitality and potential. "I've always believed in this area. It's just exciting to be part of it," he says.
And Tim Halberstadt is inclined to agree. "We are just thrilled the way things have developed downtown," he says.
|
City approves downtown business improvement district
 | |
Downtown Billings, Mont. |
A collaboration between the City of Fargo and downtown business owners was formalized Tuesday, Sept. 4, with the approval of a downtown business improvement district (BID).
The partnership allows both entities to share the cost of improvement projects that will aim to keep downtown Fargo "clean, safe and maintained."
BIDs have been used to successfully maintain and improve urban cores in areas ranging from Billings, Mont., to New York City's Times Square. |
|
|
|
|
Let's raise the woof
 | |
Kilbourne CFO Margaret Asheim and her dog, Spencer, visit Nichole Allmendinger. |
August 7 represented the Dog Days of Summer in our office ... and that was a good thing. Realizing that many staffers at Kilbourne Group and associated companies -- including Land Elements and Arthur Ventures -- love canines, we decided to let them bring (wo)man's best friend to work for a day. The office was filled with friendly, furry, tail-wagging "interns," who took care of all kibble-eating, lap-warming and visitor-greeting duties.
Next up: Bring Your Dog to Work Day, Back-to-School Edition? (Who's bringing the pupcakes?) |
 | |
KG in the news ... |
|
 | |
Sisters Chelsey Ehlen (left) and Maureen Cannon are the third-generation of barbers to operate a shop in downtown Fargo. |
Meet 'hair' apparents to family biz
When siblings Chelsey Cannon Ehlen and Maureen Cannon say they grew up in a barbershop, they're not exaggerating.
The two sisters lived with their parents in a small apartment over their family-owned business, Moler Barber College, for several years. They remember sweeping up hair for students at the school and getting tips from the customers who came into the downtown Fargo business for a trim.
Now the sisters are grown, and have become the third generation of family barbers in downtown Fargo.
Talk about a family affair.
Or, more precisely, a "family of hair."
Their business, Everett's Barbershop, is located at 230 Broadway and is named after Everett Cannon, the grandfather who started it all back in 1948.
He later took over Moler's Barber College, which is now run by the sisters' mom, Mary Cannon. (Their dad, Joel, owns Plaza Barbers in north Fargo.)
In deference to their family's history, Everett's decor is retro-cool, with old-timey music, vintage Popular Science magazines and antique fixtures. One wall contains the class photos of each family member as they graduated from barber college over the years. And so the images range from Everett's large, austere-looking, all-male class to 24-year-old Maureen's much smaller, co-ed class.
Even if their family business has old roots, these sisters are strictly state-of--the art. At 27, Chelsey and her husband Alex run the business, which shares space with Sign and Symbol, owned by Chelsey's father-in-law. Both sisters sport hip hair and impressive arm tattoos, even as they specialize in the age-old art of shaving with hot towels and straight razors. They also offer $17 haircuts, $6 beard trims and a $42 haircut-and-shave special.
And so far, business has moved at a steady clip that suggests the barbershop is back in vogue.
Barbershops began to wane a couple of decades ago as old barbers balked at the notion of cutting the Peter Frampton-style locks favored by Baby Boomers. Instead, young men ventured into that once all-female domain known as the beauty salon.
Today, that has changed. "Guys our age are realizing what a barber is. They never used to know how cool it is," Chelsey says.
Even so, the sisters still occasionally bump into some well-worn assumptions. They laugh as they describe one older customer who walked in, then stopped dead in his tracks.
"I was expecting to see a crusty, old guy standing here," he quipped.
They don't mind, as long as their customers keep coming back. "It's like a spa day for men," Chelsey says. "You kick back and relax. It is a treat."
|
 | |
One of the many prairie plants, courtesy of Kim Hess, now on 102's green roof. |
Please reseed me, let me grow Kilbourne Group has received lots of positive coverage lately for its forward-thinking emphasis on adding eco-friendly green roofs atop buildings in downtown Fargo. The public has been especially interested in Kimberly Hess's rooftop garden on 102 Broadway, site of Kilbourne Group's green roof. Hess, owner of Prairie Petals, installed raised-roof beds to grow a forest of beautiful flowers and veggies, which she plans to sell to local restaurants. Recently, our buzz-worthy rooftop received a couple of improvements. Bryan Leininger, LE designer and project manager, worked with Hess to turn one section of the rooftop into a wildflower showplace. They transplanted a variety of native prairie plants -- ranging from cone flower and switch grass to horse tail -- from Hess's Halstad farm. Hess and her assistants also weeded the entire "lawn" atop 102 by hand. They were willing to invest so much sweat equity because they wanted to market any produce growing there as strictly organic, Leininger says. Leininger then reseeded the whole area with a durable prairie grass, Bad River Ecotype Blue Grama. "I went out here like Johnny Appleseed and threw the seed around," he said, smiling. The blue grama, which came from a Fertile, Minn., seed source, is highly drought-tolerant and grows abundantly in the Sheyenne National Grasslands of southeastern North Dakota. It is instantly recognizable for a seed head that looks like bushy human eyebrows, Leininger says. The seed is planted in an engineered growing media that is much lighter than ordinary garden soil. The four-inch layer of growing material sits atop an egg carton-like tray system, which holds water for plants to access. The new lawn, which has been pampered with conscientious, three-times-a-day waterings, is thriving. At this rate, it will be well-established before the first hard frosts of fall hit. |
|
