Everyone knows Idaho Falls is booming. Homes put up for sale are off the market in a matter of days. New buildings to accommodate housing and new businesses are always in the works. Construction is always occurring, both on busy roadways and on local properties.
All of this change can be overwhelming at times. However, growth allows for new opportunities, something developer Jayce Howell and his associates know well as key investors in properties downtown.
Viewing the Value of Downtown
The Oddfellows, Hasbrouck and Inkley’s buildings are all currently in the hands of local Idaho Falls resident Jayce and his partners Mike Allen, Kris Taylor and Tasha Taylor. The Taylors and Howell are partners on The Odd Fellows and Hasbrouck buildings, while Tawni and Jayce Howell have the Rogers and the old Montgomery Ward building with Mike Allen.
Jayce was not only raised locally, but decided to bring up his family here with his high school sweetheart Tawni. Together, they have four children and a vested interest in promoting growth in Idaho Falls.
Jayce’s interest in investing in Historic Downtown Idaho Falls piqued while working on securing water for the Idaho Falls Country Club with Kris Taylor. The two met downtown where they ended up discussing what it would take for Kris to procure a building downtown. Jayce vividly remembers crossing the street from The Snakebite Restaurant to take a look at The Oddfellows building.
“I remember walking in there and feeling sick to my stomach,” Jayce recalled. “I felt quite a bit of remorse, because I've lived here my whole life. This town has provided so much for me and my family. I knew I had to get these downtown buildings, because they all have their own unique personality and stories that could be told and many stories that are yet to be told.”
It all became history after that visit to downtown. Kris Taylor and Jayce Howell partnered together to purchase The Oddfellows—the beginning of Jayce’s investments downtown. From there, Jayce’s primary focus became buying up other downtown buildings and trying to bring in businesses that would benefit the entire community.
Preserving Idaho Falls History
Jayce doesn’t view his job as simply purchasing and preparing buildings to fall into the right hands. He also feels it is his responsibility to ensure the history of each of those buildings is preserved and that whatever changes they make are true to its history. Though sometimes this isn’t feasible or possible to achieve.
“Our history is vital,” said Jayce. “Idaho Falls is a unique community. We have people from every walk of life. We have friends from all different shapes, sizes, colors and I think it's important for us to keep our history. However, I think it's also important to be cognizant of things that have gone on and be the change, be different.”
So, how does someone in Jayce’s position go about preserving the history of a building? Thought goes into every detail of downtown renovations, from simple touches like preserving the brick and masonry work inside The Oddfellows building. The partners also capture more complicated details using late 1800 existing wood in the Inkley’s building by sanding down the old wood—a project that required hundreds of man hours.
That being said, working with older buildings comes with major risks. You never know what you’re going to run into, which is why financing can be the biggest hurdle. This is the part of Jayce’s job as a developer that keeps him up at night—wondering what he’s done. Luckily, Jayce’s gambles have had major pay-outs with the help of willing partners like Bank of Commerce. (It may appear as though the gamble has paid off but this is a long mission with so much to do.)
Seeing the Future
Have you ever wondered who makes the big decisions about business brought into Idaho Falls? Some of those decisions are made by local developers like Jayce who have purchased and renovated properties with specific buyers in mind.
Dual vision is required when renovating and selling properties, such as the old Deseret Industry building downtown. With so many condos and apartments being built around the area, there is a rising demand for things like a local convenience or general store, something Jayce takes into account as he looks at potential buyers.
So, what can you expect to see downtown in the future? There are no definite answers and much more moving parts than just Jayce alone, but he would love to see a greater variety of entertainment for families and bars for the older crowd. Though downtown has come a long way in recent years, he recognizes that there is still a large potential for growth, which is great news for businesses deciding whether they might have a future in Idaho Falls.
Whatever the future holds for downtown, we know that Idaho Falls will continue to grow and benefit from the hard work of developers like Jayce who looked around at the historic buildings and spotted a diamond in the rough.
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