Renovations of a beautiful building in Hillside are almost complete. Two businesses are now open and more are on the way. The building renovations started about two years ago, with the former Radio Museum moving to Columbus and other businesses like Home & Thread Thriftique temporarily closing.
DASH (Dependable Affordable Sustainable Housing) a nonprofit which was formed in 2002 has a goal in mind of neighborhood revitalization. We spoke with Executive Director Nate Crawford who enlightened us on the revitalization happening in the Hillside area. “Many mill villages in the LaGrange area have been in some sort of disrepair; at one time these were the commercial core; before we called them live work play communities. So being able to bring these commercial cores back is what we are doing with Hillside.”
Plans for the area also include more housing, with different styles and types. Fifteen to twenty units of housing will start construction in a month or so. He says, “We are talking to a developer that is looking at adding a mixed-use building in Hillside, so we are just continuing to revitalize it and looking for the next best thing to execute there.”
With the renovations coming to a close at the commercial building in Hillside, Home & Thread Thriftique has reopened and Rock Salt Milk Bar opened just under a month ago. Rock Salt Milk Bar has a shared patio with other tenants where customers can enjoy their sweet treats. Oink Joint is expected to open next door to Rock Salt Milk Bar in the coming month.
The owner of Home & Thread Thriftique, Vannessa Looney and her daughter Whitney Looney have seen a huge increase in business from having Rock Salt Milk Bar open up and are anticipating even more with Oink Joint. She tells us that adjacent to her a space is for lease and DASH is being very selective on what type of business might open in this space. She says, “We’d love to see a market here with sandwiches and salads, grab and go food.”
In other DASH news, a mixed-use building and other spurs of development are in the plans for the Rail District which sits behind the Catholic Church near Wild Leap Brewery on East Depot Street between Morgan and Keyes Streets. To see more about this project click here.
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