The Sweet Home Economic Development Group Board of Directors is looking at options to improve the Main Street property that has been proposed as a hub for economic development and improvement activities.
SHEDG purchased the property at 1435 Main, a house located between the Chamber of Commerce and Speedee Mart, in 2009.
Last year, the Sweet Home Active Revitalization Effort held meetings and developed the concept of a “high-use building” or HUB to house the Chamber of Commerce and SHEDG offices.
SHEDG’s intent in purchasing the property was to improve it.
“There had been discussion regarding building a joint SHEDG-Chamber building on the site,” said SHEDG board President Kevin Strong. Given the costs of doing so, the project isn’t feasible.
“It would be difficult to justify spending the money unless someone else was willing to make a significant financial investment in such a building,” Strong said. “With that being the case, we’d like to explore other options for what we can do to take a site with an abandoned building and actually make it into a positive for our community.”
Options for the property include selectively marketing the property.
“If we were to sell it, we want it to be done in such a way as would assure the new owner would actually improve the property,” Strong said.
“Given the right offer, of course, we would be willing to sell. It’s about more than price, though. It’s an important Main Street location. We’d like to turn it into something Sweet Home could be proud of.”