Group transforms historic hotel into offices

The historic Roger’s Building in Idaho Falls is embarking on the next chapter of its multi-layered history.

An organization called Roger’s Building Small Business Development is transforming the second floor of the one-time hotel into affordable office space for small businesses.

When it was built in 1937, the Roger’s was considered the grandest hotel in Idaho Falls. Perhaps more famous than the hotel itself were some of the people who visited it: presidents Herbert Hoover and Ronald Reagan as well as Bing Crosby and Roy Rogers.

“Just looking at the little bits of history that I get to see that are still here, I can’t imagine what it looked like in its heyday with all of the glitz and glam and luxury that Idaho Falls had to offer,” said Cherity Woolf with Roger’s Building Small Business Development.

Woolf and her colleagues have spent the last two weeks painting, cleaning and scrubbing to get the second floor ready for its next chapter. The plan is to attract small businesses to the downtown area, where they’ll have access to some of these newly created offices at bargain prices.

“A $1.20 per square foot, that’s very marketable for the downtown area. You usually look closer to, like, $2 a square foot,” said Woolf.

Woolf said some businesses may even qualify to pay their rent on a sliding scale.

“When they start, they’re not paying as high rent, and then when their business grows, then their rent increases,” Woolf said.

Woolf said several businesses have already signed up for office space. She’s holding an open house and grand opening during the first week of April.