Jan. 13, 2020

The longtime Family Vacuum building in Pettigrew Heights once known for the smiling faces painted on its facade has been transformed into an office for an expanding real estate firm.

Alpine Property Management rebranded itself in 2019, changing its name to Alpine Real Estate Cos. The renovated space at 826 W. 11th St. helps support its growth plan, co-owner Jackson Dorhout said. 

“Property management is just a unique business because our clients are the property owners … and our objective is to preserve their real estate investment,” said Dorhout, who helped found Alpine in December 2015. “We have the unique ability to offer a home for people, and that’s a great opportunity to have.”

Alpine is hosting a ribbon cutting at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. Its expansion process has been in the works since it opened, as Dorhout has worked to develop the company from two original employees to its current staff of 12 full-time and four part-time employees.

Dorhout, once a registered nurse, earned a business degree from the University of Sioux Falls and said he always had an interest in real estate. He combined his business acumen and passion for helping others in a property management role with Alpine. 

“I think if you can treat them (tenants) respectfully and provide them a safe and secure home, you’re making a difference every single day,” he said. “And that was probably the biggest thing that attracted me to being able to do property management.”

Although its primary focus is still in property management, Alpine now also has a real estate brokerage for buyer and seller representation and a general contractor license. Eric Kerkvliet serves as a real estate broker and co-owns the business with Dorhout.

Alpine also has several maintenance technicians and offers real estate consultation for prospective investors. Dorhout said the company underwent its name change to better communicate that it does more than property management. 

As Alpine has grown, Dorhout said the office space needed to be renovated to better accommodate its needs. Alpine bought the 11th Street and Walts Avenue location about the same time Alpine was founded. 

Dorhout said it took multiple months to renovate the building, which Alpine then shared with other renters such as Crosstown Vinyl. Because of its growth, Alpine took over the whole space in November 2019.

“We know some people may have been sad to see the old smiley faces removed when the building was Family Vacuum, but we have fully transformed the building and restored its great character of the ceiling and floors,” he said.

While extensive renovations were made to the electrical and structural aspects of the building, Dorhout said an emphasis was placed on preserving its character and history.

“We liked the signage of the building and being close to downtown but also just liked the ability to restore an old building,” he said. “That’s kind of what our construction division does; we buy dilapidated houses, and we restore them. So it’s kind of what we’re already doing, and we just saw this building as a good location and a good contribution to the neighborhood.”

As Alpine moves forward in its finished home, Dorhout said he hopes to continue broadening its services and reaching a larger customer base this year.

“Our mission statement is just to treat others like we want to be treated,” he said. “So … we want to keep hiring quality employees that stand by that and just grow naturally with good people, owners and properties, and hopefully be able to attract good tenants. (We) really do want to take the next step in 2020 of really expanding all of our services — the real estate side and the property manager side especially.”

Here’s a fun look at the changing face of the 1907 building through the years: