Walnut Street in flux with eatery on the way and vacancies on east end

A new restaurant is taking shape on West Walnut and renovations to a former photography studio on the street’s east end are under way.

Business partners Dan Willey and Shawn Gott plan to open Bailey’s American Grill in the former Rasta Grill spot, 319 W. Walnut St., some time in September. Rasta Grill owner Mark Cotner shut down the Jamaican-themed restaurant in February after four years because of lackluster business on weeknights and sold the building to Gott for an undisclosed amount earlier this summer.

“At times, business just wasn’t that good downtown. I can’t live for (First Friday) Art Walks,” Cotner told Springfield Business Journal in February.

Prix fixe

Willey, who was formerly a manager at Maria’s Mexican Restaurant on South Avenue, said he has a pricing plan that should keep the doors open at Bailey’s American Grill.

“It’s going to be moderately priced – as far away from fine dining as you can get,” he said of the menu featuring a salad bar, burgers and seafood. “I just wanted people to be able come down and eat, not have to spend 30 bucks a plate. … It’s going to be anywhere from probably $6 to $20 a head for dinner.”

The shift away from pricey menu items seems to be catching on downtown.

Right around the corner from Bailey’s on Patton Avenue, restaurateur Eric Zackrison recently opened the Blue Plate Bar & Restaurant after shutting down Agrario, a fine-dining restaurant that prided itself on creative cuisine featuring locally produced meat and vegetables. Blue Plate, as the name suggests, serves what Zackrison has described as “classic, home-cookin’, comfort food.”

One of the biggest changes to the former Rasta Grill will be the outdoor patio at the corner of Walnut and Campbell Avenue, which Willey plans to expand into an area that’s currently a paved drive. He said the patio would be leveled and fenced to create a large outdoor seating area. The restaurant’s interior also will undergo renovations, Willey said.

Regular renovator

On the opposite side of South Avenue, developer Craig Wagoner of Brentwood Management Co. has begun the $1.2 million renovation of a two-story building at 323 E. Walnut, where crews have been restoring the brick façade. Wagoner said the second floor would be converted into three condominiums, with prices starting at about $195,000. The condos, two of which will have 250-square-foot outdoor patios, should be available next spring, he said.

Wagoner purchased the building for an undisclosed price about a year ago from Sothern Studio owner Mary Lou Gilbert. The photography studio previously occupied the building’s first floor.

Wagoner is looking for retail/office tenants to buy or lease roughly 4,200 square feet on the ground floor. Listing agent Dan Compas of Murney Associates, Realtors said he’s received several inquiries about the space, which could be partitioned into three build-to-suit units.

Wagoner has his hand in several renovation projects throughout center city.

His company is renovating the 26,000-square-foot Kresge building on the south side of Park Central Square. The building’s second floor will house nine lofts that Wagoner plans to start leasing next month. The Springfield-Greene County Library District and a retail tenant at the corner of South Avenue and McDaniel Street will split the first-floor space, he said, noting that the project should wrap late this year.

And the Lofts at Jordan Creek, a former furniture warehouse Wagoner is refurbishing at East Chestnut Expressway and North National Avenue, will house 20 condos on the second and third floors. Owners should be able to move in early next year, he said, noting that about a quarter of the units have been presold.

So long, Harpo’s

Another spot now open on East Walnut, just west of Wagoner’s building, is the former location of Harpo’s, 319 E. Walnut. The sports bar – owned and operated by Dan Carter and partners Dennis and Randy Harper of Columbia – abruptly closed in June after 13 years. Attempts to reach the owners were unsuccessful.

Harpo’s MySpace page only said, “At this point, we are pursuing new opportunities. … We are grateful to have had such great customers, employees and vendors and would like to thank them for their years of support and friendship.”

Tom Baird III, co-founder of Conco Cos., owns the building, but he was reluctant to speak about potential tenants until he has more details.

“I don’t expect it to be vacant very long,” he said, adding that Harpo’s closing did not come as a complete surprise.[[In-content Ad]]