Episode 92 // Building Official Nick Sorensen

Written By Danna Larson

This week on the podcast we’re with City of Jefferson, Iowa Building Official Nick Sorensen. Nick has played a key role in saving and restoring a number of historic buildings in Jefferson (pop. 4,345), and he’s sharing the strategies that have worked to make these projects successful. This episode is jam packed full of information and resources, so if you have dreams of fixing up a historic building in your rural town, get ready to take some notes!

You’ll love hearing Nick break down these projects and how they have come together. It’s a conversation that will spark some ideas for what might be possible in your small town! 

Listen right here or on these platforms:
APPLE | GOOGLE | SPOTIFY | STITCHER

We looked at the buildings that were in the worst case scenario, the ones that were gonna take an extreme amount of risk and money to get it to the point where it’s a desirable property for a business, and we started tackling those.

— Nick Sorensen

Every single building we’ve worked on has thrown its own challenge at us. It’s not for the faint of heart, but it can be done. We’re living proof of that.

— Nick Sorensen

A lot of times it isn’t even the current building owner’s fault. These buildings have been neglected for the last 50, 60, 70 years, and it’s changed ownership so many times that when they buy it they may have the best intentions in the world but they don’t realize the amount of expense and the amount of liability that they just assumed. So the buildings get to the point where they can’t even sell them.

— Nick Sorensen

Danna Larson
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Episode 93 // Andrea Stordahl of Minnesota Rust
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