Earlier this summer I had the opportunity to tour downtown Bellefontaine with Small Nation founder, Jason Duff, and some of his team members.  I was utterly blown away by the development and activity underway in this small city.

Located in central Ohio, Bellefontaine has 13,433 residents and is the county seat of rural Logan County. Like many towns in Ohio, manufacturing has left the Bellefontaine area over the past decades, leading to stagnation and decline in downtown.

But today, downtown Bellefontaine is bustling with a broad range of restaurants, bars, and cafes; a 24-hour gym; hair salons; at least two healthy food stories; a tech start up; a medical practice; toy store; yoga studios; and more.  There is clear way-finding signage, attractive permanent and temporary public art, and welcoming patios and merchant signs through the 4-5 block downtown.

Downtown Bellefontaine’s renaissance is due, in large part, to the private development company, Small Nation, which began purchasing and rehabilitating historic downtown buildings in the 2010s.  A decade on, Small Nation now own 55 buildings over several blocks and has helped placed dozens of merchants and restaurateurs in previously vacant or under-occupied properties. Downtown living has increased dramatically with residents moving into reclaimed lofts and apartments.

Small Nation started by buying low-priced properties with “good bones” and putting in sweat equity to bring back the building. Jason Duff, founder of Small Nation, has worked hard since the start of the company to curate a strong mix of restaurants, services, and merchants in downtown (here are case studies of a number of individual redevelopments). Duff explained during our tour that he has attracted restaurants and businesses that want to start up or expand and have found the Columbus-area market too expensive to work in.  But many of his business tenants are also locals from Logan Co. and northwest Ohio.

Duff and his team want to see their commercial tenants succeed: it’s good for business and good for Bellefontaine. Restaurants and bars in Small Nation buildings can participate in a bulk purchasing system to help all participants’ food costs remain low. Duff and his team have helped merchants offer medical benefits to their employees through a subscription service to the medical practice located in the second floor of a Small Nation building.

Amazingly, to this point, Duff and his team have made the property investments without tax credits or other subsidies.  He has built strong relationships with the three local banks that serve Bellefontaine, which has given the board of directors comfort to extend the needed lines of credit. 

Bellefontaine is being redeveloped in a way that ensure existing residents continued to feel a connection to Downtown, even as it experiences change. Duff noted that local residents make up the majority of sales from Monday through Wednesday while on the weekends, 50% or more of sales in Small Nation-affiliated tenants are made by people who live outside of Bellefontaine and Logan County.

Duff and his team have a clear vision of a well tenanted, well-populated downtown, with a range of amenities and options for all types of residents and visitors.

It was a real pleasure to learn how Duff and his team have achieved so much and what they hope to do next.

Definitely check out Bellefontaine for inspiration!