Eastern Estates Realty LLC purchased the former St. Somewhere bar at 1718 E. Franklin St. in the Bottom for $185,000. (J. Elias O’Neal)
Plans to revive a long-vacant Shockoe Bottom restaurant building have gone back to the drawing board after the property changed hands for the second time in two years.
Henrico-based Eastern Estates Realty LLC purchased the former St. Somewhere space at 1718 E. Franklin St. last month for $185,000.
The seller was a partnership between Blackwood Development and UrbanCore, which bought the building in February 2017 for $100,000, with plans to renovate it and attract a new commercial tenant.
Blackwood Development principal Nolan Blackwood said their plans to restore the nearly 80-year-old, 3,000-square-foot building to its former glory didn’t play out as quickly as expected. They were exacerbated in part by delays with the city’s 17th Street Farmers Market upgrades, as well as other projects the firms pursued in other locations across the region.
“The area hasn’t taken off as quickly as we wanted it to,” Blackwood said. “We felt now was the time to part ways with the property since it was going to take us a while to do anything with it.”
The deal closed July 29, according to city records. The property most recently was assessed by the city for $113,000.
Broker Reilly Marchant of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer represented Blackwood and UrbanCore during the transaction. Jake Servinsky with JLL represented Eastern Estates.
Samia Abdelmagid, who is listed as Eastern Estates’ registered agent according to state records, could not be reached for comment.
Sitting at the corner of Franklin and North 18th streets, the property has served several tenants through the years. It was home to a bar called St. Somewhere, followed by Calypso, which dated to the early 1990s and closed permanently after flooding from the remnants of Tropical Storm Gaston in 2004. The building has sat idle since then.
Success for commercial storefronts around the 1718 E. Franklin property has been hit or miss as the neighborhood tries to find a balance between rapid multifamily development and a transitioning nightlife culture.
Several new restaurants and brewpubs have opened in the area, including Carmela’s, Chris Tsui’s EAT Partners’ Hot Chicks, Carlos Londono’s La Bodega and an outpost for Goochland-based Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery.
However, empty storefronts remain in the surrounding blocks, including the property vacated recently by Southern Kitchen, which opted for a move to North Second Street in Jackson Ward after five years at 1726 E. Main St.
Eastern Estates Realty LLC purchased the former St. Somewhere bar at 1718 E. Franklin St. in the Bottom for $185,000. (J. Elias O’Neal)
Plans to revive a long-vacant Shockoe Bottom restaurant building have gone back to the drawing board after the property changed hands for the second time in two years.
Henrico-based Eastern Estates Realty LLC purchased the former St. Somewhere space at 1718 E. Franklin St. last month for $185,000.
The seller was a partnership between Blackwood Development and UrbanCore, which bought the building in February 2017 for $100,000, with plans to renovate it and attract a new commercial tenant.
Blackwood Development principal Nolan Blackwood said their plans to restore the nearly 80-year-old, 3,000-square-foot building to its former glory didn’t play out as quickly as expected. They were exacerbated in part by delays with the city’s 17th Street Farmers Market upgrades, as well as other projects the firms pursued in other locations across the region.
“The area hasn’t taken off as quickly as we wanted it to,” Blackwood said. “We felt now was the time to part ways with the property since it was going to take us a while to do anything with it.”
The deal closed July 29, according to city records. The property most recently was assessed by the city for $113,000.
Broker Reilly Marchant of Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer represented Blackwood and UrbanCore during the transaction. Jake Servinsky with JLL represented Eastern Estates.
Samia Abdelmagid, who is listed as Eastern Estates’ registered agent according to state records, could not be reached for comment.
Sitting at the corner of Franklin and North 18th streets, the property has served several tenants through the years. It was home to a bar called St. Somewhere, followed by Calypso, which dated to the early 1990s and closed permanently after flooding from the remnants of Tropical Storm Gaston in 2004. The building has sat idle since then.
Success for commercial storefronts around the 1718 E. Franklin property has been hit or miss as the neighborhood tries to find a balance between rapid multifamily development and a transitioning nightlife culture.
Several new restaurants and brewpubs have opened in the area, including Carmela’s, Chris Tsui’s EAT Partners’ Hot Chicks, Carlos Londono’s La Bodega and an outpost for Goochland-based Lickinghole Creek Craft Brewery.
However, empty storefronts remain in the surrounding blocks, including the property vacated recently by Southern Kitchen, which opted for a move to North Second Street in Jackson Ward after five years at 1726 E. Main St.