McGarvin & Taylor move into historic location downtown

WORLAND - McGarvin & Taylor Real Estate found a new home in downtown Worland. They moved to their new location at 701 Big Horn Avenue from their previous location at 114 North Ninth.

The move was spearheaded when former property owner of 701 Big Horn Avenue, George Sheaff of Sheaff Properties, came to Alison Taylor Sheesley of McGarvin & Taylor to discuss listing the property for sale.

"George came in and wanted to sale it. He and I came down here to look at it and I said I might want to buy that," McGarvin & Taylor co-owner and broker Alison Sheesley said. She and her husband Mark Sheesley worked with Sheaff Properties for about six to eight weeks to settle on a price.

"It was a non-pressure deal," George Sheaff said. "She came down to look at it to possibly list it and liked what she saw."

Sheesley said she loved the building, especially the loft, which she was able to transform into her office. "There's no building in town really like it. You have two steps down to the bottom room." The bottom room is a large conference room.

Instead of offices the staff at McGarvin & Taylor have cubicles. Alison Sheesley said there was not enough room for offices, but they do have space for two more employees should they wish to expand their staff.

Another added feature was the sound basement, which is used for storage.

"I've been in lots of downtown buildings and this probably has the best basement," Alison Sheesley said.

George Sheaff, seconded that, noting, "This has got good bones from top to bottom. It's got a premiere location for a business in Worland. It's a dual income property."

There is a rental attached to the property, with Travel Wright the current tenant.

The downtown location at Seventh and Big Horn is also a perfect location for a real estate agency because it is near several banks, the title company and the post office.

RENOVATIONS

After the property was purchased it took the Sheesleys about seven months to remodel and decorate the inside. They had hoped to be in the new location in March, instead of the end of July. Part of the delay was getting the material delivered due to COVID-19.

It also took time for Sheesley to "rust" some of the décor for her office as well.

In addition to the renovations inside, completed by several local businesses, the front of the building sports a new sign made by the Worland High School shop class, that is backlit at night.

They will also have a television that will have a running video of the properties listed by McGarvin & Taylor for those walking by on the weekends or after hours.

BUSINESS

While the COVID-19 pandemic may have stalled the moved into the new location, the pandemic has not hurt business, Sheesley said. "We've been busier than last year. People are coming here from out of town," she said. Some buyers are buying sight unseen.

Sheaff said they also have had a large response from out of town for rentals. "We had one vacancy and every call we received was from a metro area," he said.

There are five employees at McGarvin & Taylor, in addition to Sheesley - associate broker Laura Schwarz, sales associates Amy Baugh, Kitty Mortimer and Kent Foulger and office manager Ann Brock.

HISTORY

McGarvin & Taylor Real Estate began in 2000, transitioning to a new name and business from Double Tree, which was originally the Bower Agency.

Until this month McGarvin & Taylor was located at 114 North Ninth.

The move to 701 Big Horn brings the agency into a historic building downtown. The building was constructed in 1936, according to the Washakie County Assessor's Office.

It has housed multiple businesses most recently Kids Korner and most notably Marvin's for Men. Sheaff said the loft, where Sheesley has her office now, they had a coffee area. "Everyone knew you could come and have coffee or tea."

Rather than try to rent the space again after Kid's Korner left, Sheaff said, he and his wife Carol, opted to put it on the market, deciding it was time "to turn the property over to someone else, someone who would take good care of it."

George Sheaff said he is thrilled with what Alison has done with the renovation and having turned it from a retail space to an office spaced. "I think it is a real nice asset downtown. If Worland continues to grow you'll probably see more office than retail (with more and more retail going online)," he said.

Both Sheesley and Sheaff said it would be nice to have a "coffee shop" downtown.