By Jamie McEachin

Kirsten Moore proudly surveys the century-old beams in the Liberty St. Mercantile’s event space. After years of tricky renovations on the late-1800s building and a $2.5 million investment, Liberty St. Mercantile is open for business. 

“With Magpie,” she says, referring to the diner across the street that she founded, “when I walked in there the very first time I just had like this sort of picture flash in my head of what I wanted it to look like…this one was a little bit more a sort of work in progress.”

The old general store’s crisp white-and-black exterior and industrial-chic aesthetics at Liberty St. Mercantile mirror Magpie Diner. When the building that now contains the Mercantile went up for sale as a historic renovation project, Moore remembers feeling concerned a new developer could “mess up the vibe” of the little corner district on West Gay Street that she’s helped transform. Once she walked inside, Moore says, she knew the building could be something “cool.”

In 2020, a new cluster of trendy businesses around West Gay Street changed the atmosphere of the northern warehouse district, previously the home of mostly industrial warehouses and auto body shops. Now, you can still buy a tire, but you may have to fight for parking.

Informally known as the “Bird District” due to the bird names at many establishments—Magpie Diner, the Perch, Sage Bird Ciderworks—Harrisonburg’s Downtown district is stretching north of its old confines. 

Moore, who previously worked as a food writer and a graphic designer, is one of a growing group of entrepreneurs setting up shop in the north end of downtown. A Harrisonburg native, Moore always meant to move out of her hometown. Instead, she decided to help make it a “little bit cooler to live in.”

“I don’t know what made me stay,” Moore says. “You know, I settled down, got married, had kids. And then, you just kind of get into life and you forget to forget that you were going to go someplace else. It’s a great place to raise a family.”

Moore started out doing graphic design and public-relations work for a local architecture firm. The firm wanted a co-working space built above its offices, and Moore took over the design and execution of that challenge. It was such a success that she then worked with the same investors to open Magpie Diner, her “Hopper-inspired” breakfast spot with a co-working space above, created in a renovated car garage. 

Moore’s emphasis on aesthetics and design is a driving motivator. After Magpie opened on the corner of West Gay and North Liberty streets, nestled behind a tire garage and an old warehouse, Moore began eyeing the building across the street after it went on the market. Moore says there were some “dumb” ideas from other developers for what the space could become, but her imagination was sparked. 

“I was never looking to do any of it, I was just happy doing my thing…it’s mostly just opportunity,” Moore says. “I feel like I have creative ideas, and [I’m] happy to take a risk.”

That risk turned into Liberty St. Mercantile, a collection of small shops, boutiques and an event space in a renovated late-1800s general store building. With the Mercantile and her other businesses, Moore feels like she’s helped “bring back life” to the north end of Harrisonburg and filled a needed niche for the Harrisonburg community. The amount of traffic on West Gay Street surprised her, and she feels like she discovered an “underutilized space.”

“What we’ve done here is good and has done good things for the community,” Moore says. “We’ve saved two old buildings from being torn down and something else put in their place. So by doing that, we’re revitalizing an area of town that needed some love.”

Moore says she struggles with knowing that the city is assessing taxes at a higher rate now in the area of her projects. People who live on Collicello Street have higher property taxes, and nearby rental properties are raising their rents. She feels it’s unfair to point to Magpie Diner and the new development as the cause of that, but worries about walking the “fine line” between revitalization and gentrification.

“At what point does that lean on the gentrification side, where it makes it impossible for people to, you know, be in the space that you created?” Moore asks herself. 

Barry Kelley, chief executive officer of Matchbox Realty, has watched as Harrisonburg’s Downtown has shifted from a ghost town in the 1980s to the expansion and creativity of the last decade. Matchbox Realty developed the City Exchange apartment building in 2004, when it was nothing but a historic old warehouse amongst others of its kind. 

At the time, Kelley says that Matchbox was surprised at the demand to live in the then-new building. Now, the City Exchange neighbors Liberty St. Mercantile across the train tracks on West Gay Street and enjoys its proximity to the shops, coffee shops and nightlife that have emerged. 

Kelley says property taxes in the area are increasing to a rate that is “not sustainable.” Matchbox Reality has seen 40 to 50% property tax spikes in the last two years, and Kelley fears more increases are coming. He worries about the rising costs of insurance, maintenance, renovation labor and appliances for Matchbox properties.

Kelley is also concerned about the lack of transparency when it comes to Harrisonburg’s increased property tax in popular new areas like the north end of downtown—and the resulting higher cost of living for the community. 

“[The city of Harrisonburg] is not really doing this mathematically,” Kelley said. “It’s more like, ‘Oh, I think this is worth that.’ And so [they] put the number on it.”

As the north end grows more popular, Moore is excited to see other creative business ventures pop up around Magpie and the Mercantile. 

Sage Bird Ciderworks opened in September 2020, just a few months after its neighbor Magpie Diner’s doors opened. Situated in an old car garage and warehouse, Sage Bird Ciderworks created a colorful, mural-filled space with industrial-chic elements similar to establishments in the Scott’s Addition district of Richmond. 

When founder and co-owner Zach Carlson and his wife Amberlee signed the lease on the building in 2019, the collection of warehouse buildings around West Gay Street were “non-operational.” Carlson’s decision to open Sage Bird Ciderworks on the north end of downtown came down to the fact it was a rare available space close to downtown’s center, and it was big enough for their brewing operation. 

“It’s been an interesting kind of push northward for downtown and it seems to kind of make sense…with some of the revitalization efforts and just the way that people have developed a new interest in downtown,” Carlson said. “There’s only so much space really, you know, and downtown is pretty full.”

He believes that the “North End” or “Bird District” is “bridging the gap” between the end of Historic Downtown and beloved spaces like The Little Grill and Chop House restaurants. Carlson says Sage Bird Ciderworks has worked to embrace the community in the north end of downtown, and they’ve been welcomed in turn. 

“Harrisonburg is not a particularly cool, trendy place on its own,” Carlson said. “And so, you know, if we want Harrisonburg to be cultural and to be important, to have cool things going on, we’ve got to work together to make it happen.”

Carl Strite, owner of Strite’s Donuts, rents a spot a few doors down from Magpie and the Mercantile. He’s noticed a huge influx of foot traffic and says that he wonders where everyone is coming from, but his mobile donut shop enjoys the increased business. His daughter is set to open a brick-and-mortar Strite’s Donuts location in Harrisonburg even further north in the next four to six months. 

“Harrisonburg’s really growing and it’s expanding in different areas and…in many ways,” Strite says. “I think it’s a really actively growing town at the moment. I like it.”

Concerns about the walkability of the West Gay Street and Liberty Street area mean that new parking and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure may be needed to fill the gap in the north end, and Strite says he hopes that new infrastructure is on its way soon. 

The city has plans for Liberty Street, says Andrea Dono, executive director of Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance. A recent survey of the community signaled interest in making the north end of downtown more visually-cohesive with the center. To help with that, HDR plans to install new street lights with banners that match the more-decorative street lights downtown. 

“If you’re on Court Square and you just end up on Liberty Street and you look to your left and your right, you know, to the left you see a jail,” Dono said. “And then to the right…it’s not as compact and dense as Main Street is, and so it can be a little bit difficult for people to realize that there’s stuff there.” 

Dono is excited to realize the community’s “vision for Liberty Street,” and says streetscaping will start in 2027 to widen sidewalks for pedestrians, install a bike lane and slow down car traffic in the area. This work is funded by a $14.3 million grant from the Rebuilding America, American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity Act. Dono says she’s hopeful that with additional funding, the city may be able to bury the utility lines that currently stretch overhead in the north end. These improvements will help give “visual cues” that pedestrians should explore.

HDR is celebrating 20 years of investment in Harrisonburg’s Historic Downtown—a district that has always included the north end, Dono says. In 2004, HDR hoped to save Harrisonburg from decades of “disinvestment” and abandoned historic buildings in the city’s center. The now-bustling downtown represents HDR’s success guiding local businesses back into the city’s historic center.

Despite the new activity happening around her, Moore says she’s not looking to start any new projects soon—she’s tired of renovations. Instead, Moore says she is ready to slow down and celebrate four years of Magpie Diner.

“I’m ready to be done with construction projects for a little while,” Moore says. “But I always have my eye on something else, and have already thought of something for a couple different properties that would be fun to do. But I’m not in any hurry.”

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