Sam Hoyle’s interest in redeveloping old buildings began as a child growing up in Britain where he was surrounded by aging structures. It was there that he began to gain a greater appreciation for history and a sense of wanting to find modern uses to help bring old spaces back to life.

He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, where he met his wife who was on a travel abroad program from Iowa State University. They later moved to London and also lived in South Korea before they settled in Des Moines, where Hoyle’s early jobs included stints with WHO-TV and the Greater Des Moines Partnership.

Today, Hoyle’s primary job is in marketing, social media and video production as principal with New Tribe Media, skills he said translates well into his journey of redeveloping old buildings.

His foray into redevelopment accelerated with his involvement with the Orvis Horatio Group, which was behind the transformation of the basement of the former Klein Department Store in Highland Park into a 1970s-themed bar complete with vintage furniture, mannequins dressed in vintage clothing that’s for sale and era-based music.

The group, which includes fellow owners and brothers Alec and Evan Davis, and Austin Baeth, is also behind Dough Co. Pizza and the Des Moines Biergarten. 

Hoyle, 39 and a father to two young children, has also transformed a former neighborhood grocery store at 1405 E. Ninth St., into the Studio E9 photo studio and event space. The second story has been turned into an apartment.

The Business Record caught up with Hoyle at the studio to learn more about his journey, how he taps into his creative processes to redevelop old buildings and his vision for the future as he hints at his search for space to possibly open a fish and chips restaurant.

Studio E9 is pictured as is the rear of the building where there is an entrance to a second-floor apartment. Photo by Duane Tinkey

The following Q&A has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity. 

How did those experiences growing up in the U.K. influence your vision for redeveloping historic properties?

In the U.K., the planning rules make it harder just to knock down an old building. Basically, you can’t, so you have to find modern uses for it. So, when old buildings become available, such as the Highland Underground, you’re not necessarily looking at it just in financial terms. It becomes a passion, and it’s very much a motivation to find a modern use for these older buildings and find new ways to bring them back to life. Sometimes it isn’t the rational thing to do if you’re only looking at an Excel sheet, but it usually works out well.

You mentioned that you and your wife were able to find jobs quickly after moving to Des Moines, and that wasn’t something that could have happened in the United Kingdom. Explain what the differences were in dynamics between the two countries at that time.

I got my undergraduate degree in 2009. With the Great Recession it was the worst timing, so I kind of kicked the can down the road and did a post-grad in 2010 but it was the same kind of situation. There was just so much competition. There were fewer jobs, especially starting out. I got a couple of interviews and got into the top three or something out of 100 applicants, so I did some contract work doing marketing and stuff and it was a slog. So we decided to travel and teach, and then we came to Des Moines and we landed jobs we wanted to be doing within a couple of weeks. That didn’t happen in London. Why do I think that’s the case? It’s probably competition and Des Moines is a good town for opportunities for the folks who want to be here.

How did you get involved in redeveloping the Studio E9 space?

A friend of ours who is a licensed Realtor and has a lot of older buildings as well, another acquaintance of his had owned the building for a couple of years with the hopes of renovating it herself. Her work took her out of state and she wasn’t able to do it, and in the meantime, one of the pipes froze in the winter and caused a bunch of damage. So, the opportunity came up and our friend asked if we’d be interested in it. We took one look  and it was in pretty bad shape, but we said, “Yeah, absolutely, we’ll do it.” It was a total gut job to get it to look how it is today and figuring out a good use for it. I was open to having a commercial tenant in here, maybe a coffee shop or that type of thing, but people would see how much work would need to be done and would get second thoughts. So I just decided to go ahead and renovate it and when it got to the point that it was finished, I was like, we’ll turn it into a photo studio. That was the backup plan and so that’s how it all came to be.

What are the challenges with bringing these older buildings back to life?

Nothing is straight. Nothing is plumb. Nothing is standard building practices. I think the way I see it, it’s like another creative outlet. I work in the creative space and it’s another way to be creative. I think sometimes you have to think creatively to figure out a new use for some of these buildings and then sometimes your building approach has to be creative as well. So, something like the Studio E9 space, if I’d  hired it out to a general contractor it probably would have been very expensive to renovate, so I was able to kind of general contractor it myself and then have other contractors come in and do the work. That really kept the cost down. For me, it’s a creative outlet and sometimes you have to think a little bit about not doing the standard approach to get things over the line.

Were there influences in your life growing up that inspired you to restore old buildings and find new uses for them?

There was a time when I was a teenager, I had a creative hat but also an analytical one and thought maybe architecture would be a good career to go into, but then I was told you have to be at university for seven years, and I was not sure about that, but one of my favorite TV shows growing up in the U.K. was called “Grand Designs.” The show just followed the renovation of old buildings and it was interesting. There’s something there that I have always found interesting.

Why is it important that these spaces are saved?

I put a lot of value on the characteristics of these buildings and the built environment, and how that can be helpful for building community or a detriment to building community. Personally, I’m not a fan of big, wide roads and spaced out buildings. If you spend your life predominantly in a car, you’re not able to build that strong community. Whereas we’ve been very intentional about trying to work with more density, and more walkable, older buildings. So, I think it probably boils down to that sense of adding to the vibrancy of the community.

Is there another project you’re eyeing right now?

Nothing solid yet. We have ideas. Lots of ideas. We’re talking to a few folks but as a group, with the Horatio Group, we’ve kind of said no new projects for at least a year. We have two Dough Co. pizza locations, we have the Des Moines Biergarten and the Highland Underground. We want to make sure that they’re all up and running and taken care of before we go on to the next project, but we have some ideas. I think for me, there’s a gap in the market for a hole-in-the-wall fish and chips place. It’s just finding the right location for it.

What do you do outside of work?

I feel fortunate because I am self employed and partner in these different businesses, my time can be flexible, so my job is fun. I get to do fun things for work. Outside of that, family dictates a lot of my time and what I am doing. I play soccer for a team, I play a lot of tennis, I have been part of the cricket team in Des Moines for a time as well, and then travel. We like to take the kids to new places.

What motivates you each day?

I love Mondays. When Monday mornings roll around, I get coffee and I’m usually ready to get to work. I think it’s the chance to create or build something bigger. Whether that’s with partners of Horatio Group or that’s for our clients. It’s to work on these bigger projects and really get your teeth into something. It’s a combination of trying to do good and make a positive contribution. Everybody wants to be comfortable but the big motivation for me is how much of my time can I dictate? How much can I control? The motivating factor is, can I create professional life and family life where we can control our own time?

Is there a book you’ve read that you would recommend?

The Robert Moses biography: “The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York.” It’s like 60 hours on tape, but it’s the story of the development of New York and it’s quite interesting. It’s a fascinating case study on folks who started out well-intentioned, and a story of power. I guess it’s another case of having a curiosity of how things are built and why they’re built the way they are and what can be done to improve the built environment going forward.