SHELBURNE FALLS — Local attorneys Kevin Parsons and Lina Alexandra Hogan are aiming to attract more businesses to the village with their newly rehabilitated building.

Parsons was looking for a new office after the location where he was renting space was sold in February 2023. Observing a shortage of available office spaces in Shelburne Falls, he opted to renovate the building at 50 State St., creating seven new office spaces and two condominiums that were completed in January.

Three of the offices are already occupied.

“I’ve always seen Shelburne Falls as a vibrant village. Certainly it’s tourist-related, but there are also other businesses here, too,” Parsons said. “We saw this building as an opportunity to bring business to town. I thought there was a desperate need for office space in the village.”

Parsons explained that the north end of State Street has faced challenges in recent years with minimal investment. However, as the laundromat undergoes renovations, a furniture store moves in, Floodwater Brewing Co. remains a central gathering place and his new office building fills up, the block on State Street is “coming back to life.”

The building is particularly appealing to health care professionals, including massage therapists, due to easy parking and building access. Parsons said he expects the entire building will be rented out within six months.

Before Parsons and Hogan bought the building, it was used for manufacturing, most recently as a studio producing furniture from whiskey barrels. Earlier, it was the headquarters for Stillwater Porcelain.

The building features porches with views of the Deerfield River, and the condominiums are being marketed for sale by Wanda Mooney of Coldwell Banker Community Realtors.

The owners plan to install a large solar array on the roof this spring to supply most of the building’s energy, including that of the condos.

Existing businesses

In addition to Parsons’ law firm in the corner office, there are already two woman-owned businesses at 50 State St.

Kristine Jelstrup, who recently relocated from Cambridge, has opened Shelburne Falls Natural Healing in an office overlooking the river. Trained as a massage therapist with 20 years of experience in eastern Massachusetts, she now uses natural response testing and other practices to harness people’s own bodies for healing.

“Instead of chasing the symptoms, I ask your body what it needs and give it what it wants,” Jelstrup said. “I’m not the healer; your body is the healer.”

While Jelstrup does not accept insurance, she said she is open to sliding-scale payments. She said most of her clients require three to five visits to achieve the results they’re looking for.

Jelstrup noted the positive response her work has received in the area, emphasizing that people in Franklin County are more open to alternative health care. Unlike in Cambridge, where clients often came to see her after specialized doctor visits, many of her new clients have made her practice their first stop.

“This space is amazing,” she said. “If he hadn’t built this space, I was thinking of opening in Greenfield. I am beyond ecstatic he built this out.”

Down the hall, Amy R. Morey Insurance hosts a satellite office of her Greenfield-based insurance agency.

Morey, a Shelburne Falls native, said she was priced out of the area when she had children. She is delighted to be back in the village.

“This is exactly where I need to be,” she said.

Morey began insurance sales in Shelburne Falls, working along the Deerfield River for more than two decades. She established her own Greenfield business four years ago.

“This gives me the opportunity to service people I had in the past and gain some new folks as well,” she mentioned, adding, “It’s nice to be back in town and have a spot that is cozy and easily accessible.”

Bella Levavi can be reached at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com.