Anson Building in Battle Creek

Built in 1923, the Anson Hotel in Downtown Battle Creek operated as a boarding house, featuring views of the Battle Creek River and an interior atrium to let in natural light. The three-story brick building at 119 West Michigan Avenue welcomed short- and long-term residents over the decades, until operations became too costly for the owners. In November 1997, the Anson Hotel closed its doors; considered the last old-style rooming house in the city, it was also the closing of a chapter for Battle Creek’s history.

The building remained vacant for decades and was slated for demolition on three separate occasions due to its exposure to the elements. To stabilize the property and attract a new private development partner, Battle Creek Unlimited (BCU) purchased the building and installed a new roof in 2020.

New Life through the Newmans

BCU’s vote of confidence to save the Anson building from the wrecking ball attracted Cody and Caitlynn Newman of building restoration and development company Restore 269 to the project. Born and raised in Battle Creek, the Newmans are passionate about their hometown community and historic preservation efforts in their projects. Even the couple’s company name is a nod to the region’s area code.

Leveraging BCU’s investment to complete the restoration and activation of the Anson building, the Newmans transformed the building into a mixed-use development featuring eight apartment units and a community-owned food cooperative, Uproot Market and Eatery.

The development received support from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) in July 2023, when the Michigan Strategic Fund approved a $1.5 million Michigan Community Revitalization Program (MCRP) performance-based grant. The Newmans were previously awarded MCRP funding in 2019 for their redevelopment of another historic building in Battle Creek, the Record Printing and Box Company, located around the corner from the Anson building. As the Record Box Loft, the 1902-built building now serves as a popular wedding venue on the riverfront.

Thanks to the Newmans, new life has come to buildings that once stood empty, honoring the city’s history while adding much-needed housing, food access and economic activity to Downtown Battle Creek.

A Dollar and a Dream

After attending college at the University of Michigan and living in Ann Arbor, the Newmans returned to Battle Creek in 2016 with a desire to invest in and restore their hometown community. They founded Restore 269 in 2017 and purchased their first building that same year. The former Ratti building required minor renovations and now serves as the location for Restore 269 and the couple’s home.

“It was 10 years ago that we moved into our place, so we have lived downtown in this spot for a decade,” said Cody Newman. “It's an exciting time to be down there and to see the growth. There's a good sense of community in the downtown, and it’s been fun to watch the change over the last decade and be a part of that.”

The Newmans purchased and renovated the Record Printing and Box Company next, before selling the completed building during the pandemic and setting sights on the Anson building; BCU sold it to them for a dollar.

“It was in terrible shape,” Newman said. “There was a hole from the roof all the way to the basement, and several floors had collapsed. My wife, when she was about six months pregnant, fell through the first floor into the basement. This was one of the worst buildings downtown, so it was a major undertaking to get to this point, but we also wanted to prove to the community that you can save these buildings, and you can rehab them. Now people walk through them at the open house and say, ‘Why would anyone ever tear this down?’ It's been wonderful to turn a completely blighted building into a lively, thriving space that people want to be in.”

In Development: Downtown Battle Creek

The redeveloped Anson building was completed in December 2024; since then, the building’s eight apartments have been at full occupancy, while the ground-floor Uproot Market and Eatery has successfully operated ever since.

“It has been a wonderful project for us, and it would not have been viable without the MEDC,” Newman said. “We really appreciate the support from the MEDC and Battle Creek Unlimited. We're very grateful.”

The Anson building redevelopment builds on other revitalization efforts in Downtown Battle Creek that were supported by the MEDC, including the iconic Milton and DoubleTree by Hilton.

“The Milton really opened up people's minds about revitalizing downtowns, especially Battle Creek, and people living downtown,” said John Hughes, economic development specialist with BCU. “ This project came along, and it's a smaller scale building that added fewer units, but it had a huge impact. You're getting more people living downtown and activating some street-level commercial space again. It shows that our momentum is growing, and we've got more projects like that coming.”

Learn how the MEDC supports the vibrancy and revitalization of downtowns like Battle Creek.