Blighted corner in St. Paul may get new life

A blighted corner at one of the busiest intersections on St. Paul's West Side is on the verge of getting a makeover.

Perhaps reconstructive surgery is a better description.

A $3.4 million project to tear down a decrepit -- but at one time well loved -- building and replace it with a well-known local restaurant and grocery store chain is getting closer to reality.

Now, it's just up to the economy, project officials say.

The restaurant? Holy Land Middle Eastern Restaurant and Deli. The old building? The Riverview Commercial Club.

The corner? Robert and Cesar Chavez Streets.

"We're very close," said Chris Romano, executive director of the nonprofit Riverview Economic Development Association, or REDA. It's the lead developer on the project.

Romano says fixing the corner, which he calls the gateway to the District del Sol commercial area, will reenergize the neighborhood and pay a bit of honor to the neighborhood's Middle Eastern tradition.

The West Side has always been a melting pot, where Germans, Irish, Jewish, Lebanese and Mexican families, among others, settled. It's main commercial area is District del Sol, where brightly painted restaurants and shops share space with public art.

The old three-story Commercial Club building, also known as the old Elks Club, has sat vacant for more than a decade. It used to be a ballroom and bowling alley, among other things. Now its roof is caving; windows and doors are broken. Vandals and pigeons have sullied the structure, and there's asbestos throughout.

"Effectively, the building is a blighted, structurally compromised health and safety hazard to the neighborhood," according to a city report.

"It has fallen into an amazing state of disrepair," Romano said. "The building isn't salvageable."

Plans call for a one-story, 10,000-square-foot building and a parking lot with 50 spaces. Holy Land would be the sole tenant of the building and is expected to bring at least 20 new jobs.

Construction could begin after winter.

Ideas for fixing up the site have come and gone over the years.

Over the past five years, REDA has presented various redevelopment ideas to the city, but none has worked out because they required too much subsidy, didn't have tenants lined up or faced other obstacles.

But REDA has joined with Wellington Management, a longtime St. Paul development company, and is confident it can get the job done now, Romano said.

The St. Paul Housing and Redevelopment Authority has approved a $300,000 forgivable loan for the project. Another $300,000 forgivable loan is being sought through the STAR program, which is funded by a portion of the city's half-cent sales tax. REDA also received a $275,000 grant from the city.

"It is a spectacular project," said Council Member Dave Thune, whose ward includes the West Side. He said that the "grand old building" has lived beyond its useful life.

Thune praised REDA's perseverance to find a project that could work.

Majdi said he knows the city is offering a good deal that might not be on the table if Holy Land decides to wait. "I'm feeling good about it, to be honest," he said. "But all the [economic] signs are telling us to pass."

Still, he said, no decision has been made.