Leesburg business reflects growing trend toward multi-use downtown spaces

LEESBURG — As small communities look for ways to revive historic downtown districts, many are turning to a new model: single buildings that house multiple businesses under one roof.

In Leesburg, Passion and Bliss owner Sheri Smith has helped bring that concept to life by transforming a once-vacant building into a small hub for food service, health and wellness services, retail and local partnerships. Now, on a typical weekday afternoon, customers stream into the innovative space for salads, wraps and other fresh lunch options.

Smith and her husband purchased the building about six years ago after it had sat vacant for decades.

From the time the couple moved to Lee County in 1997 until they bought the building, much of the multi-unit structure remained boarded up and deteriorating.

“It was dilapidated,” Smith said. “The whole front walkway wasn’t there. You kind of had to step up several times just to get inside.”

Her husband, a contractor, had long pointed out the neglected structure as a barrier to downtown development.

“He was over at the chamber and said, ‘Look, if y’all are ever going to get this town to develop, y’all have got to get rid of that ugly building over there,’” Smith said.

Ultimately, the husband-and-wife team decided to purchase and renovate it themselves.

At the time, Smith, whose background is in the medical field, was completing a functional medicine coaching course and began envisioning a space that would help people make healthier lifestyle changes, particularly around food.

“The hardest part of my personal health journey has been trying to figure out what to eat,” she said. “So I thought, ‘Let me put in a commercial kitchen and make meals while I coach people so they have more chance of success.’”

Early plans called for a full commercial kitchen and expanded food production, but financing challenges forced the couple to scale back their renovation plans.

After the building appraised below what was needed to secure larger funding, Smith said they returned to the drawing board and adapted the layout to support multiple tenants and services instead.

The front of the building became Passion and Bliss, which has grown into a popular lunchtime stop for residents and workers in Leesburg and is rapidly growing as word spreads further afield. The back of the structure now houses Smith’s naturopathic lifestyle coaching practice, Choosing Wellness, whose tagline is “Embrace the Journey.” Other businesses also have opened in the space.

Massage therapist Jenna Israel operates out of one of the rooms, offering barefoot massage therapy as a specialty. A children’s boutique, Charlie and James, occupies another section. The boutique, operated by Meggan Anthony, is named after her grandfathers and offers curated children’s goods and wellness products focused on improving life for mothers and young children. Smith said she still has one office available and hopes to eventually fill it with another practitioner in the health and wellness field.

“I’d love to have someone like an esthetician, reflexologist or something similar,” she said.

The building’s mix of food service, retail and professional services reflects a growing trend in downtown redevelopment, where older properties are repurposed into multiuse spaces designed to support a variety of small businesses.

Leesburg city leaders say those kinds of investments are key to building momentum for broader economic growth, and Smith claims the city has indeed played an important role in supporting downtown improvements since the couple purchased the property.

“Once we had decided to invest, the city was willing to invest,” she said. “We applied for the downtown development loan relief fund. By coming up with our business plan, the city was able to get five years’ worth of tax credits for any new businesses that came in. We got tax credits for purchase, for renovation and for at least two full-time equivalent employees for the initial five years.”

Public investments have included sidewalk improvements, parking expansions and the creation of a breezeway next to the building after the city purchased an adjacent property.

Smith now serves on the Leesburg Downtown Development Authority, which is working to plan for additional growth and revitalization in the city’s historic center. Those efforts are unfolding alongside larger development projects aimed at expanding housing and attracting new residents to the area.

Rapid commercial development along the northwest Albany U.S. Highway 82 corridor in recent months has become a major growth engine for the Albany metropolitan area. At the same time, emerging commercial nodes stretching from Albany into southern Lee County along U.S. Highway 19 are becoming increasingly attractive for new businesses, with downtown Leesburg modeling what is possible. Local officials say partnerships between entrepreneurs and city leadership are helping fuel that momentum, with hopes that additional small-business owners will establish roots within the historic county seat and beyond.

Last year, the city of Leesburg was awarded $2.5 million through the OneGeorgia Authority’s Rural Workforce Housing Initiative to support infrastructure improvements for a major new housing development.

The funds will pay for water, sewer, drainage and road infrastructure improvements needed for the first phase of development in the 32 Crossing subdivision. The project will include 66 housing units in its initial phase on a total of 130 acres. Smith said new housing, combined with downtown redevelopment efforts, could help create the kind of walkable, connected community many residents want to see. While housing developments and new construction are primarily located outside the historic downtown core, local leaders say there is no shortage of ideas aimed at improving quality of life in Leesburg.

Among the proposals under discussion are traffic improvements, expanded pedestrian access and the potential for golf cart-friendly routes linking downtown to nearby parks and neighborhoods.

According to Smith, the city and county recently acquired about 100 acres nearby for park space, and officials have explored ideas for trails and fitness paths that could connect residents more directly to downtown. She said she believes those types of projects, combined with private investment in businesses and property renovation, could transform Leesburg’s downtown over time. She points to nearby communities such as Bainbridge as examples of what can happen when revitalization efforts gain traction.

“Bainbridge’s downtown district is almost completely full now in terms of occupancy,” Smith said. “That’s what we’re hoping to see here.”

For Smith, the vision extends beyond a single storefront — a city as holistic and interconnected as her own approach to health and wellness. Through her work with the Downtown Development Authority, Smith said plans to conduct assessments of current city growth opportunities are already in place. Smith said she believes those types of projects, combined with private investment in businesses and property renovation, could transform Leesburg’s downtown over time.

“It just takes people willing to stick their neck out,” she said. “There’s opportunity here.”

For Smith, the goal is simple: a downtown where food, small businesses and community life intersect — and where a once-vacant building can help spark something larger.