Patrick Elbert hopes to bring a slice of hometown flavor to Waukee’s downtown Triangle when he transforms the former Pin Oak building into a new restaurant.

Elbert, co-owner of Husk Homes, acquired the building in December 2021 with the intent of it becoming the new home for his real estate office. In the back half of the building he was going to put a custom millwork shop where custom cabinets and furniture could be made.

“That was the original intention. Now it’s going to be a restaurant,” Elbert said.

What changed?

Elbert said Waukee’s economic development director reached out to him to let him know that the Iowa Finance Authority was going to do an assessment of the downtown and that there were potential funds for downtown improvements.

That assessment was done and a community survey showed that there was demand for a restaurant in the Triangle area, Elbert said.

He met with folks from the Iowa Finance Authority, and seeing there was a need for a restaurant in the neighborhood, he switched gears and submitted an application for state funds. He received word in the summer of 2023 that the project was awarded a $100,000 grant.

A tenant has since been brought on, and design for the new space has begun, Elbert said.

“The design aspect has taken quite a bit,” he said. “With older buildings there’s a lot more you have to account for. That building was already gutted on the inside but it had a lot of secrets as you started tearing up the floor and things like that.”

Elbert is also putting in a large skylight that had to be custom-made. That should be installed in early April, he said.

The building was constructed in the 1920s, according to the county assessor’s website.

It was originally a neighborhood grocery store called Ben’s Grocery Store.

The concept for the new space is for a luncheonette, which Elbert said has been popular in larger cities. It will offer higher-end diner-style breakfast menu items with sit-down and grab-and-go options, including coffee and pastries, and a heavy emphasis on lunch.

It could possibly expand to dinner hours, Elbert said, adding that the restaurant will also have a patio.

“It’s just getting in that groove, and with it being the first restaurant in the Triangle, my hope is this will be a catalyst for that area,” he said. “What attracted it to me is I’m from a very small town in north-central Iowa.”

Elbert, 33, grew up in Whittemore, a town that today has fewer than 500 people in Kossuth County. His grandfather started the local car dealership, Elbert Chevrolet, which has since been sold.

“When I grew up there, that little town was thriving,” he said. “On a Saturday, when I rode my bike up to the shop, every single street was lined with businesses, and the Triangle reminded me a lot of that. It’s already a cool area. There’s already some awesome businesses there. I think this will give it that sit-down vibe in a growing community.”

After graduating from Algona’s Bishop Garrigan High School in 2010, he went to Iowa State University. He and his wife moved to West Des Moines before relocating to Waukee.

“Here is this little cool area in the middle of Waukee that feels like my hometown,” Elbert said of the Triangle. “It just felt different to me. It reminded me of me riding my bike down the street and seeing all these businesses in Whittemore. You have the library, and you take a left and there were businesses, businesses and businesses. And at the end was kind of the anchor, and that was Elbert Chevrolet.”

Elbert said a lean-to-style addition that was built on the back of the building at some point has been torn off. He also has restored the original parapet-style roof.

The building takes up less than half of the lot, and Elbert said he hopes to build a two-story, 3,600-square-foot office building on the back half of the parcel that would have retail on the first floor and offices on the second.

The restaurant would be the latest use for a building that after being a neighborhood grocery was used for a bakery, a mercantile market and a gallery.

The restaurant could open by early to midsummer, he said.

He declined to reveal details of its name or who will be operating it, pending a formal announcement by the restaurant operators that is planned in the coming weeks.

Husk Homes’ primary focus is custom-built homes, and the Pin Oak restoration is the first venture by Elbert and his partner, Ethan Schoeppner, into the commercial sector.

Elbert said his goal is to maintain that small-town, neighborhood feel to Waukee’s downtown Triangle.

“To me it’s keeping that small-town feel in a metro that’s growing really quickly,” he said. “We’re seeing a lot of outside eyes, outside investment. And that’s all helpful, but this can be an area for small business owners who still have a dream of putting in a restaurant or retail space or gallery that is more community-driven.”