By Eric Curl
Oct. 24, 2022 – A former auto repair garage will be converted for use as a beer taphouse as part of the redevelopment of half a block at 31st Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, according to a plan going before the Historic Preservation Commission Wednesday.
The plan being presented to the HPC by Lynch Architects also includes the reconstruction of two demolished garages in their original footprint for use as a restaurant and kitchen to “celebrate the use of the property after the original structures were rendered structurally compromised.” In addition, a brick building on the site will be renovated to house a café, while also retaining the current salon tenant, Hair N Motion, according to the developer.
The renovations and reconstruction project was previously approved by the Historic Preservation Commission in April 2020 and work is already underway, but the developer is now seeking approval of some minor design amendments, as well as the construction of a public restroom building. The updated plan also includes an outdoor courtyard at the site where a parking lot was previously shown in the 2020 drawings, while a metal building that was previously not included in the project scope is now proposed to be renovated for refuse and storage.
A joint venture partnership, 1400 MLK, LLC., purchased the properties for $411,800 in November 2019, according to public records. The development group consists of finance company Cabretta Capital, Chatham Developers, and developer Nick Finland, according to Brent Watts, with Cabretta Capital and Chatham Developers. Finland is also the developer of 135-unity luxury apartment complex The Lowe being constructed immediately to the south of the commercial project site. Chatham Developers and Finland are also partners behind a 95-unit development, the Addie, being built the next block over to the east.
In addition, Watts is the developer behind the ongoing rehabilitation of the historic St. Paul’s Academy building at 315 West 38th St. for use as an apartment building.
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