May 13, 2021

A nearly 120-year-old building built as a grocery store in the Cathedral neighborhood could bring a new coffee shop to the area.

Alex Halbach bought the property at Ninth Street and Grange Avenue without even walking through it first.

“My Realtor always says she knows when I call there’s an adventure waiting,” said Halbach, who is an attorney, business owner and has restored homes.

He also serves on the Board of Historic Preservation and was familiar with former commercial buildings that since have converted mostly to multifamily.

In this case, the 1902-built former Eftting & Co. Grocer was a duplex with two-bedroom apartments that he would drive by if he headed west from his office at Cutler Law Firm downtown.

“I would drive by all the time and think that’s such a cool little building,” he said. “I didn’t want to risk not getting it, so I walked through it after I had it under contract.”

That was within hours of it coming on the market.

“My vision is bigger than just residential units,” Halbach continued.

“Whenever I travel to larger cities, Minneapolis, Denver, California, you go into these mature neighborhoods and these great old historic neighborhoods, and you always come across sections of residential that have little commercial districts.”

While this is just one property, it still represents the same chance to bring a neighborhood retailer to the area and offer residential space above, he said.

“I was able to pretty quickly secure an operator (for the coffee shop) and find someone interested in doing the project, so I’m excited to hopefully move forward with it,” he said.

It will depend on figuring out some zoning-related issues, he said. The main floor is about 1,000 square feet, which will be the coffee shop, and the plan is to demolish a fire-damaged garage to allow for outdoor seating.

He also will renovate the upstairs apartment into a large one-bedroom unit.

The building itself will have what he thinks is 1970s-era stucco removed, the original brick tuck-pointed and new windows installed. The entrance will be restored to the corner of the building.

He plans to announce the local operator for the coffee shop once approvals are farther along. The hope is to have the restoration complete and the shop open a year from now.

“I think it’s a neat, attractive feature for people looking for places to live,” he said. “I’d love to see it increase property values and help the whole neighborhood.”

Historic photo courtesy of Siouxland Heritage Museums.