Holtz Realty

Over these past months, I have had more and more people asking me if there are apartments above my building. I tell them all that there are two very large loft apartments. Of course their next question is what I will be doing with them when they have been restored. The most fortunate thing about those apartments is that the gorgeous oak woodwork that has never been painted and they still have the original oak kitchen cabinets. Once they are finished, I have no doubt there will be professional people wanting to rent them. What I have discovered over these recent years is that more professionals prefer to live in well cared for apartments in the downtown of cities that have a vibrancy and growth. With the Streetscape Project complete and now the Storefront Project getting under way, I have no doubt that the mixed use of the historic downtown with kick into high gear. When you think about it, most people don’t realize how much time is taken out one’s day driving from home to work as well as shopping. I personally noticed how much less I drive since I moved my office to its present location. I walk to the banks, I walk to the courthouse, I walk to city hall and I walk to the title company and law firms. Now think about people living downtown. They can walk to the banks, walk to the grocery store, walk to the library, walk to the park and walk to many of the larger churches on Sunday. Wouldn’t that be wonderful to find downtown Mason City filled with fewer cars and more pedestrians. Let’s work on turning pigeon roosts into upscale residences.