Waterville's former Union Hotel gets new life
Feb. 21—Waterville fans are happy that their former Union Hotel is being renovated into apartments.
With the original structure built in 1888, a lot of history is going on with this building at 201 Paquin St. E. in the town of about 1,700 people. Date-stamped window sills and exposed brick walls are among the fetching original features the building's new owners are maintaining in their remodel.
"I'm pretty excited," said Sally Olson, who works in the research center at the Le Sueur Historical Society and has done research on the former Union Hotel. "I don't know much about the company that bought it, but it looks like they've been active with historical homes."
The former hotel property is on the National Register of Historic Places, though its new owners say that, thankfully, there's not too much red tape associated with that designation.
The company that purchased the building for $58,000 in July 2022 is We Buy Houses Southern Minnesota, with Grant Pope at the helm.
"I now own and operate a real estate investing and construction company in the neighboring town of Waterville," he said. "We own multiple properties in the Mankato area.
"This building has a ton of history," Pope said. "We started this project not really understanding the magnitude of how much this building meant to locals and the community. You can see from the engagement on a lot of our Facebook posts that they have really tuned in."
The project gave his team pause because they did know, going in, how much work there was to be done. And that's a staggering amount. The former hotel had been most recently used for apartments but had been vacant for five years. "It shows," Pope said.
"No one had put anything back into the building," he said.
That all changed when his firm took over, and the structure — which Pope thinks was built partially in 1888 and then had an addition put on in 1895 — has been a complete renovation. They will call the new apartment building the 1888 Apartments, Pope said.
"It was really run down."
Pope's team keeps Waterville followers abreast of changes with frequent Facebook posts of the construction progress taking place at the former Union Hotel.
The updated building, which Pope hopes will open in September of this year, will feature two three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartments; two two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartments; and one one-bedroom, one-bath apartment. Included in the original features of the building that will be maintained are brick walls and date stamping in the window sills.
Outside, a fresh coat of paint that is era specific will be used to spruce up the apartment building. Signs and exterior lighting will also help return the old hotel to its former glory.
"We're really excited about the way it's coming around," Pope said.
On Facebook, his firm cheered, "We will continue to bring these old places back to life!"
"People are very encouraged to see us reinvesting in the town of Waterville," Pope said. "They're excited about the new growth and new opportunities in town. We personally think Waterville is a hidden little gem surrounded by lakes, and is a bedroom community an hour from Mankato and a half hour from the Cities. We feel like this town is under the radar.
"We're doing these things and even the older generation loves seeing new things in town. And the younger generations are excited about staying in town with quality housing and those kinds of things. It's rewarding to be investing back into the town of Waterville."
