St. Paul building housing W.A. Frost restaurant faces foreclosure

A bank filed two lawsuits last month seeking to foreclose on the Dacotah Building, home to beloved St. Paul restaurant W.A. Frost & Company, as well as another historic property in the city’s Cathedral Hill neighborhood belonging to restauranteur and developer John Rupp.

In an email Thursday, Rupp said he expected the matters to resolve quickly, attributing the disputes to an administrative error. He said the suits are “not a real problem” for the future of W.A. Frost, a 50-year institution in the capital city.

Attorneys for Rupp’s lender, Winona-based Merchants Bank, did not respond to requests for comment.

In March, attorneys for the bank sent letters to Rupp and affiliated entities saying they were in default of mortgage agreements for the Dacotah Building at 366 Selby Av. and the Burbank-Livingston-Griggs house, a historic mansion at 432 Summit Av, which is now rental apartments.

In the complaints, filed Dec. 31 in Ramsey County District Court, the bank alleges Rupp failed to provide documents the loan agreements required, including his most recent tax returns, an updated personal financial statement and notice of separate judgments against him.

Subsequently, the parties in May entered into a forbearance agreement, giving Rupp and his entities until the end of November to pay the full loan amounts. DACBLD LLC, affiliated with the Dacotah Building, owed nearly $1.5 million in unpaid principal and interest, according to the suits, while 432 Summit LLC owed about $838,000 on the historic mansion.

Rupp’s entities continued to make principal and interest payments during this time, but the bank argued they breached their contracts by failing to pay the entire loan amounts by Nov. 30. It asked the court to appoint receivers for the properties and allow foreclosures.

On Thursday, Rupp said he has been working with the bank to extend the loans.

Loans for both buildings are “well below 50% of current conservative property values, and as a consequence, I have two and likely three lenders who will timely replace Merchants if it decides not to renew,” he wrote.

Both buildings have been full for many years and operated at record profits in 2025, he said, adding last year was W.A. Frost’s best in a decade.

Rupp made his foray into the real estate and hospitality business with his purchase of the Dacotah Building in 1975. He’s been credited for helping revitalize the then-struggling Cathedral Hill neighborhood and has since bought and revived other buildings in the area, including the University Club and the Commodore Bar and Restaurant.

His holdings grew beyond the city over the years to include boutique resorts in Frontenac and Wisconsin. But much of Rupp’s work focused on restoring historic buildings in his hometown of St. Paul.