The building that housed Belgrade Feed & Hardware for 38 years sold last week for $3.1 million to a Bozeman-based development group. The new owners plan to subdivide the 18,000-square-foot space into 14 “flex industrial suites” ranging from 800 to 2,200 square feet.

Listing broker Tate Hensley of Bridger Commercial says the target tenant is “the location-independent professional who needs a clean, high-ceilinged workspace for light fabrication, prototyping, or creative practice.” Rents start at $2,800 per month, triple what the feed store paid.

“We’re not talking heavy industry,” Hensley said. “Think ceramicists, custom furniture makers, drone fabricators. People who make things but quietly.”

The feed store’s owner, Delbert Choate, 71, retired in March after his landlord declined to renew the lease. Choate said the nearest full-line ranch supply is now in Three Forks, 22 miles west. “Guys come in for a bag of calf starter and a box of fence staples,” he said. “They don’t need a conference room and a pour-over station.”

The development, to be called Ironworks Commons, includes a shared conference room, a cold-plunge tub, and a “community manager” who curates networking events. Tenants get 24/7 key-fob access and a mailing address in Belgrade’s new “Maker District,” a designation the city council approved in February.

Three suites are already leased to a Bozeman couple who run a direct-to-consumer hatchet brand. They currently operate out of a two-car garage on Durston Road.

Choate still drives past the building most mornings. The sign hasn’t come down yet.