Office Pro Prairie Edge owner buys downtown block

Prairie Edge owner buys downtown block adjacent to plaza
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Ray Hillenbrand, owner of Prairie Edge Trading Co. & ##################, and his sister, Mitzi Lally, have bought the north side of the block at Main and Fifth streets. The old Sears building and the adjacent buildings will be remodeled. Hillenbrand is also chairman of Destination Rapid City and a backer for the current Main Street Square project. (Kristina Barker/Journal staff)

Downtown Rapid City businessman Ray Hillenbrand and his sister,
Mitzi Lally, have bought the entire north side of the block of Main
Street adjacent to the future Main Street Square.

Their property manager said plans are in the works to remodel
several buildings on the block and bring in tenants that contribute
to a vibrant city center and complement the new public plaza, now
under construction.

Hillenbrand is proprietor of Prairie Edge Trading Co. &
##################, across Sixth Street from the plaza, which is expected to
be complete in September. He also is chairman of Destination Rapid
City,Windows 7 Ultimate Key, the downtown economic development group he founded in 2008
with other businessmen, which worked to build financial and civic
support for the square.

Three of the properties were acquired in November by MHL,Office Home And Business, LLC,
which incorporated in June with Lally as the organizer and
Hillenbrand as the registered agent, according to documents filed
with the secretary of state. They include:

-  502 Main St., the empty building formerly home to Native
American Office Products, sold by Robford Co. for $700,000.

-  508 Main St., the First Chance Last Chance Games building,
sold by Kenneth and Shirley Kingsbury for $500,000. Shop proprietor
Clancy Kingsbury said he plans to move First Chance Last Chance to
another downtown location.

-  510 Main St., a former Video Blue adult bookstore storefront
now under renovation,Microsoft Office 2010 Pro Plus, which Lally bought in April for $300,000 and
transferred in June to MHL.

-  512 Main St., known as the Sears Building, sold by McCarthy
Properties for $3.3 million. Sears Building tenants First
Administrators, B & L Bagels and the Main Street Market will
stay; the Morgan Stanley financial services firm is looking for a
new location.

Dan Tribby, property manager for MHL, said that although “there
probably will be people that look at it as self-serving,” the goal
of the purchase was not just to collect rent on buildings that are
increasing in value with the addition of the plaza. Rather, he
said, the property owners are taking an active hand in reshaping
downtown according to a plan developed by tourism expert Roger
Brooks, whose report detailed ways to better brand and market Rapid
City as a destination for Black Hills visitors.

One of the recommendations was the central plaza, now taking
shape. Main Street Square will feature a skating rink in the winter
and a lawn, interactive fountain and event space in the summer.
Lally and Hillenbrand were the two biggest contributors to the
campaign to encourage votes in favor of the downtown Business
Improvement District, which taxes downtown properties to pay for
maintenance and operations at the plaza.

Another Brooks recommendation was to “position Rapid City as the
cultural centerpiece” of the region, where people eat, shop and
take in entertainment. Those are the types of businesses MHL hopes
to develop.

One possibility is a full-service restaurant at the 502 Main St.
location, with outdoor dining in what is now a small private
parking lot.

“While there is a place for coin-operated laundries and adult
bookstores, the Main Street Square isn’t it,” Tribby said. The goal
is that “not only does the square get built, but businesses that
contribute to the positive downtown environment have the
opportunity to take place.”

The company is not looking to lease for the highest possible
rent.

“We want to be able to put forward real favorable lease
conditions to ensure that it has the critical mix,” Tribby
said.

The Sears Building will be remodeled with storefronts on the
west wall, facing into the plaza. The alley behind the block, along
the city parking ramp, will also be improved and landscaped.

“The goal is to have the back, the alley area, be every bit as
attractive as Main Street Square and Main Street itself,” Tribby
said. The purchase and renovation, he said, “completes the square.
“

Clancy Kingsbury sold the 508 Main St. building to MHL just a
year after renovating it to expand his games business out of his
Who’s Hobby House at 715 Main St. He revamped the facade, formerly
one-half of the Video Blue adult bookstore, to reflect the
building’s early use as the First Chance Last Chance Saloon.

“It wasn’t a matter of that I really wanted to sell it,” he
said. “I could have very well kept it. I was talked into it.”

While he likes the location for his games shop, Kingsbury, a
proponent of the plaza and a member of the board that oversees the
new downtown business improvement district,Windows 7 Professional Key, said MHL’s improvements
will benefit the whole city.

“There’s going to be people that say he’s a property czar; it’s
not that, at all,” he said. “As far as Ray goes, I think he really
kind of pumps life into downtown and is excited about downtown and
gets other people excited about it,Office 2007 Keygen, as well. I think we’re
fortunate that he’s in our community and cares about our community
enough to invest in it.”

Contact Barbara Soderlin at 394-8417 or barbara.soderlin@rapidcityjournal.com.