We are the Slater Family, owners of Black Dog Holdings, LLC.

Our company was started because of a simple real estate transaction…the purchase of a downtown building desperately in need of renovation.  Like so many others, it’s crying out for somebody to recognize its hidden potential, attend to its ailments, and breathe some life back in.  It spoke to us and we listened.

It didn’t take us long at all to recognize that the problems of our little building are just a symptom of the larger neglect facing our entire downtown area.  We’ve lived her for more than a dozen years now and driven Spring Street hundreds of times.  We’ve watched businesses come and go, their storefronts gradually going vacant one after another.  Truth is, it never really hit home…until now.

Downtown St. Marys needs our help

What started as an investment has grown into a mission to help improve our community through revitalization.  Our goal is to create beautiful retail, office, and residential spaces to attract awesome new businesses and bring people back to the downtown area…To Help Make Downtown Cool Again!

This blog is our first foray into the realm of social media.  We’re old dogs and the reality is that new tricks can be hard to learn, but we’re eager and willing to try and do our part to get things moving forward!  From time to time we’ll drop a note to highlight happenings, people, or places of interest to the downtown area or just generally share what we’re up to with our own projects.

Now for the really important part…yours!  Make it a point to come downtown. Take a stroll with a friend or family member, shop our local merchants, volunteer to help spruce things up, or best of all, get started on a plan for that downtown business you’ve been dreaming about.  No matter how, get involved!

It’s our downtown and it will take all of us to make it great!