The owners of the Western Reserve School of Cooking have leased space to open a kitchen store and school in Cleveland. And the owner of Hansa Import Haus plans to redevelop his Lorain Avenue property with a restaurant and brewery.
View full sizeA rendering shows the planned Hansa restaurant and brewery in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood. Owner Boris Music, who took over Hansa Import Haus in 1979, plans to redevelop and expand his building, adding a restaurant and brewery with food and beer recipes from Slovenia and neighboring countries.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A European-inspired brewery and a cooking school could open in Ohio City next year, expanding a food-and-beverage district around the West Side Market.
Boris Music, a Slovenian immigrant who moved to Cleveland in the 1970s, plans a $3 million redevelopment of the Hansa Import Haus, a German specialty store on Lorain Avenue. The project would include a restaurant and brewery, where Music hopes to produce beer based on recipes from Pivovarna Lasko, Slovenia's largest beer producer.
A short walk away, on West 26th Street, the owners of Hudson's Western Reserve School of Cooking have signed a lease on the ground floor of the Fries & Schuele condominium building. Catherine St. John and her husband aim to open a small kitchen store by the holidays and launch their second cooking school, tentatively called the Cookery at Market Square, early next year.
"Quite honestly," St. John said, "if it weren't for the location, in this economy, I don't think we'd think about doing it. But the neighborhood is booming."
The deals show activity spilling beyond West 25th Street, where retail vacancies have dwindled in the past two years. And they expand on efforts by the city and neighborhood groups to reposition the district based on craft, whether it's growing vegetables, brewing beer, cutting steaks or producing pasta.
Growing interest in food, cooking and local agriculture is driving investment near the city-owned West Side Market, which will celebrate its 100th birthday in early November. The centennial has sparked discussion about how to balance development and preservation, tradition and tourism at and around the old-school food market.
But renewed interest in the Market District is attracting an eclectic mix of entrepreneurs and artisans to a mom-and-pop restaurant and retail scene, despite the still-challenging economy.
View full sizeBoris Music, the longtime owner of Hansa Import Haus in Cleveland's Ohio City neighborhood, plans to redevelop his property to include a brewery and restaurant. The $3 million project could be the first step in creating a Cleveland presence for Slovenian beer producer Pivovarna Lasko, whose first beer recipe dates to 1825. Music, who has been getting advice from bar-restaurant entrepreneur Sam McNulty, plans to offer other European food and beers, plus local craft brews.Music, who is 55, took over the Hansa Import Haus in 1979 and built the current, Bavarian-style building in the early 1980s. He designed it defensively, with windowless sides and a gate out front, to deter vandals and burglars. Designs for the brewery and restaurant, and renovated store, show windows and patio seating lining Lorain.
"The neighborhood finally deserves and has accomplished what I was dreaming all along," said Music, who once tried to amass property for an international market in the district.
Encouraged by Mayor Frank Jackson's administration, which sent a trade mission to Slovenia in May 2011, Music tackled the brewery project to leave a legacy for his children -- and to satisfy "a little bit of personal ego."
The city of Cleveland is considering loans and grants for the brewery, which could be a first step in getting Lasko and other European brewers to expand into the United States. The Cleveland area boasts the largest Slovenian population outside of Slovenia.
"We are 99.9 percent sure that they will get a signature on this agreement that we can cook the beer on the recipe of Lasko," said Jure Zmauc, the Slovenian consul general in Cleveland. "We have tested the water in Cleveland, and it is good. The next step would be a real brewery, not a microbrewery, but a real brewery for Lasko in Cleveland. . . . The market is huge. America is a huge country. Americans love beer, and we have good beer."
The Hansa restaurant and brewery would offer food and beer from several European countries. When asked how likely the project is to proceed, Music said, "We need a stamp from [the] building department so we can start digging."
An Ohio City block club and a city design review committee must sign off on the plans.
"It's a great fit in the neighborhood," said City Councilman Joe Cimperman. "This isn't Applebee's, baby. It's the real deal. This is why people love Cleveland. It's authentic. It's original."
When Carl and Catherine St. John open their Ohio City cooking school, it will be a case of another Northeast Ohio stalwart expanding. The Hudson residents, who bought the 40-plus-year-old Western Reserve school in 2007, weren't looking to open a second business. But they couldn't resist the prospect of serving chefs and training cooks from Ohio City and nearby neighborhoods.
The Western Reserve School of Cooking will not change. But it will have a bigger, funkier sister in Cleveland, in a space leased from nonprofit group Neighborhood Progress Inc.
Food-focused bridal showers and bachelorette parties will be able to hop from classes to neighborhood bars. And the St. Johns, now forced to turn away some events at their 10- to 12-person kitchen in Hudson, hope to expand their corporate team-building business in a space for twice as many people.
The city also is considering loans and grants for the school, said Chris Warren, Cleveland's chief of regional development.
"One thing we've heard is that there are a lot of places to go in Ohio City, but not a lot of places to do things" said Tom McNair of the Ohio City Inc. neighborhood group. "This is really a kind of hands-on, interactive thing to give people something to do when they come here."
Several other projects are percolating in the neighborhood. Spurred by strong demand for apartments and some improvements in home sales, a few residential developers are looking at land deals. Paul Benner, a 29-year-old Cleveland native, is evaluating spaces for a home-brewing equipment store.
Great Lakes Brewing Co. is talking about another expansion. And serial entrepreneur Sam McNulty and his partners will open their fifth Ohio City business, Nano Brew Cleveland, on West 25th this week.
Property records show that McNulty and Mark Priemer recently bought the Culinary Market Building, on West 24th Street, for $800,000. McNulty, who leases storage space in the 43,000-square-foot building, described the deal as a defensive move. He does not have firm plans for the property.
But McNulty and his partners are looking for space for new ventures, such as producing charcuterie, aging cheeses and making bread.
On Twitter: @mjarboe