After two sisters desired to pursue their dreams of opening up a posh café and retail space in the heart of South Minneapolis, Welsh Construction was the general contractor of choice. 

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The foundational construction goal was to modernize the outdated, structurally unsound building into an upscale, state-of-the-art restaurant while maintaining the historical integrity of the space. The design-build process would prove critical in the success of this goal and project. 

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The scope of work encompassed a complete renovation, from gutting the entire basement to new footings to new windows to new support columns and beams and everything in between. There were a variety of challenging surprises that popped up. Right off the bat, pouring the new concrete in the basement required a unique process due to lack of accessibility downstairs: the concrete went from outside, through the windows, into troughs, and then into wheelbarrows, before finally being poured onto the footings. On the main level, optimizing the space was the goal in order to fit all the restaurant equipment, retail area, bar space, and seating. One of the innovative solutions for the limited space was a dumb waiter: a custom food elevator from the basement to main floor.

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Architectural partner: Firm Ground Architects
 

Minnesota Real Estate Journal Commercial Construction 2023 Project of the Year -  Finalist

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