San Miguel

I mentioned our building in San Miguel in my last post. A few years ago we bought a commercial property in San Miguel. As with most things real estate related, it took much more time and money than we thought it would to renovate. And don't get me started about the economy and how hard it is to fill commercial buildings right now. But I digress.

San Miguel is the kind of town where, on Sunday mornings, the coffee shop is not open but the bar is. It's got it's own rustic charm. We really enjoy visiting. The town has seen some improvements in the past few years. It's fun to watch happen and even more fun to be a small part of it. Over the years Paolo has gotten to know most everyone in town. When he walks down the street everyone knows him which is very different from our suburban existence where we barley know our neighbors names. No seriously, I can't remember what their names are. John and Laura? No. Give me a minute. I'll get it.


Here is the "before" picture taken when we first bought the building a few years ago. It was a diner for many years. It also housed a Mexican Restaurant at one time. Before that it was a 1950's movie theater. Most anyone in town will tell you the building's history, the where abouts of it's prior occupants, ect. And now the good people of San Miguel can add our names to the building's lore.





Here is the "after" shot




Here is a close-up of the Laundry we co-own with a partner who lives in San Miguel and does the day to day running of the business.






And here is a picture of the Grand Opening of the Laundry held last September. It was hot as well....San Miguel. The local Spanish-speaking radio station was there and we grilled hot dogs and went through lots of water and sodas. The opening of the Laundry was a big deal not only to us but to the town. Even the people who do not use it stop Paolo and tell him how 1) happy they are to have the laundry in town (prior to the opening people had to drive 8 miles to the next town to do their laundry) and 2) pleased that the laundry is a nice, clean, well-maintained space. The town is full of empty lots and empty building so to have the building renovated with a new business in it is a boost.






So that's our San Miguel project. We didn't really know what we were in for when we bought it and never in our weirdest dreams thought we'd be the proprietors of a laundry but we're just rolling with it. It's one of those interesting turns life takes.

Dan and Loretta!