By Heather Rule

Val Martin lived in a neighboring community and was familiar with Battle Lake when she started working for the city in 2015. The public works director gave her a tour of Battle Lake, and Martin asked about West Henning Street, just off Lake Avenue, the main drag in town.

The area she was asking about is known as Hatchery Row. “It looked pretty tough. In my mind I’m thinking, ‘well, we’re going to have to do something about that,’” Martin said.

Nearly a decade later, and the unsightly Hatchery Row with its dilapidated and unused properties — which hadn’t been fully functional in decades — has turned into a flourishing new property known as the redevelopment of Hatchery Row. The three-story, multiuse building includes commercial space, high-end apartments, and underground parking. The approximately $8 million redevelopment is one of the biggest projects Battle Lake has ever seen, Martin said.

Hatchery Row history

Hatchery Row was a group of agricultural and industrial buildings on the north side of Henning Street in Battle Lake, just west of the downtown business area. The unused buildings became unsightly within the thriving community. Hatchery Row offered the perfect location for redevelopment and expansion within the city.

The project became a priority for Battle Lake starting in 2016.

It started with reforming the city’s economic development authority (EDA), of which Martin is now the director, along with her duties as city clerk/treasurer. One of the first tasks was meeting with the property owners and convincing them to sell.

The EDA also had meetings in 2017 with community members, and a visioning study helped put together ideas for property redevelopment. This visioning study was a “huge help in recruiting a developer,” Martin said.

After a groundbreaking in August 2022, construction and concrete work started in November 2022 and continued through 2024.

Redevelopment takes shape

The multiuse building is home to commercial space and 15 high-end apartments. Most of these apartments were spoken for as of October 2024. Deemed “high-end,” the units are a little more expensive and were built with better quality woodwork and countertops, for example, according to Martin. These apartments are just the latest housing options added to Battle Lake in recent years.

About 100 people attended a ribbon cutting event for the project in July 2024 and by fall 2024 construction of the building was nearly complete, with just a few finishing touches remaining, such as landscaping. The businesses in the retail space are all open and include a nonprofit organization, fitness center, financial advisory services, beauty salon, and doughnut shop.

The city was more involved up front with purchasing the property and cleaning it up so the developer could build on the land. The developer funded the project through investors and borrowed money from the local bank. Plus, the city used tax increment financing and various grants, including grant funding to help pay for the sidewalks, water, sewer, and natural gas hook-ups.

Part of the broader community

The redevelopment in the heart of Battle Lake is part of “an explosion of business” that includes about a dozen restaurants in the city that has a population of 857. The area is extremely busy, especially in summertime.

“We’ve become the foodie destination of the area,” Martin said. “We’ve become that area where people say, ‘hey, let’s go to Battle Lake.’”

Many people who’ve visited the community have been in awe of this new multiuse building in place of what was there before, according to Martin, saying things like “It fits right in. They did a good job with the design.”

Though the feedback is “not 100% positive” regarding the redevelopment project, for the most part the city has received positive communications, according to Martin. She’s conducted many presentations and press interviews about the project, too, along with the progression of changes they’ve made in Battle Lake. As others have asked ‘How did you get that done?’ Martin said it’s been fun to share their story.

Part of the answer to that “how?” question, Martin said, is knowing who to talk to and asking questions. Battle Lake received money and help from Otter Tail County, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, and USDA Rural Development.

“Then when you’re doing a project, ask people, find out who to talk to,” Martin said. “If there’s somebody at the county that does economic development, talk to them. Ask them if they have ideas.”

Heather Rule is a freelance writer.