Downtown on the Rise: Demopolis sees wave of investment and renovation

If you didn’t know better, you’d think downtown Demopolis is recovering from a natural disaster.

Everywhere you turn you see construction and white trucks with business names on the doors are as common a sight as mockingbirds in the public square.

Jackie Landerfelt, chairman of Main Street Demopolis and owner of an interior decorator business in the Strother Building, is delighted to be among the mayhem.

“It’s exciting to see all this progress,” Landerfelt said.

Construction of the Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences is underway, and hundreds of engineers, supervisors and workers for the West Alabama Corridor project will be based in River City. That means Demopolis is dealing with growing pains while most towns in the Black Belt are shrinking.

Main Street Demopolis is one of the organizations helping city leaders deal with downtown development that has been booming since before the high school project and widening of Highway 43. And there are lots of developments to keep up with.

Twenty-one downtown properties have changed hands since Main Street Demopolis was established in 2022.

As reported in the Black Belt News Network, H&M Construction will be moving into the George’s Building and two adjoining buildings at the corner of Walnut Avenue and Washington Street.

H&M insisted that the city force downtown property owners to bring their buildings up to code, and the city has followed through. Property owners were given to the end of May to tell the city council what they plan to do to bring their buildings into compliance.   

Around the corner on Washington Street, you’ll find the Strother Building. The building houses a design studio and retail furniture store and six high-end, short-term rental apartments upstairs called The Flats.

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The city of Demopolis bought the vacant lot next door to serve as a parking lot for H&M employees and downtown shoppers.

A block north on Walnut Avenue, the Rosenbush Building will be converted into a high-end hotel. Across the street, three properties are being renovated to house the Chamber of Commerce and two new businesses. One of those businesses received a $6,000 grant from Main Street Demopolis.

Chanticleer Center on Washington Street has been renovated for office space. Right next door is The Ballroom, a venue that received a $1,000 marketing grant from Main Street. The Old Lowe’s Jewelry store next door was purchased for a wine bar/florist and is now for sale.

Jumping back across Washington Street, two buildings on the corner of Strawberry Avenue have been renovated for office space or perhaps a pizza restaurant. Go around the corner on Strawberry Street and you can stop in for an adult beverage and perhaps some live music at the Strawberry Jam Club.

The building at the corner of Strawberry and Washington has been renovated for a bank and residential space.

A block east on Washington directly across from the square, Strive Counseling Services received a $1,000 Main Street Demopolis grant, and Willa on Washington is a hair salon. The former Anderson Family Care office on Washington has been renovated and is available for lease. Dr. Brittney Anderson now practices in a newly renovated office on Main Avenue, right next to the new office of CPAs Mason and Gardner.

Main Street Demopolis Executive Director Rhae Darcy said the city has been blessed with great local investors, business owners, property owners and strong community spirit that has been growing for years before the new projects.

“You can feel the pride for downtown,” Darcy said. “The community decided not to let (downtown) go. We were going to commit to action. Business owners, volunteers, community leaders, not-for-profits, we all pulled in the same direction to create momentum.”

That momentum included finding ways to repurpose historical buildings to maintain the city’s heritage and reverse the blight that plagues so many downtowns.

“Incorporating economic development with preservation is how you can make saving old buildings viable,” Darcy said.