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Fri
Jul 13
2012

Former Restaurant Turning Into a House in Bella Vista

In neighborhoods like Hawthorne and Graduate Hospital, residents yearn for more retail and commercial options in the neighborhood. In Bella Vista, the staggering number of restaurants and shops, along with the presence of the Italian Market means that one fewer commercial space doesn’t make much of a difference. We give you 770 S. 7th St., home for years to Italian restaurant Cent’anni, which saw the business close a few years back. Now, thanks to a tip from a reader, we’ve discovered that the building is being gutted.

One off the corner

First floor

You can see the demolition through the windows

We spoke with one of the demo guys, from Mr. Clean demolition, who explained to us that the former restaurant would be turned into a single family home. He was under the impression that it was once a single family home, over a hundred years ago.

With the Saloon, Cucina Forte, Little Fish, and Fitzwater Cafe all within a block, the loss of this restaurant will probably not rock the world of folks who live nearby. But there is something to be said for the loss of institutional memory that happens when a classic, family run restaurant shuts down for good. And with the building’s conversion into a home, the memory of this place will eventually fade away.

Readers in Bella Vista (or Queen Village), are you satisfied with the commercial offerings in your neighborhood? Is it possible that there are even too many commercial spaces, and you welcome a conversion like this? Or would you prefer as many options as possible in the neighborhood?

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COMMENTS
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Posted in Bella Vista | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments
  • Blorkishdork

    As a renter in the area, I am sad to see it go, mainly because once things are converted to residential its often times difficult to convert back to commercial uses.  With that said, with southstreet and the italian market and 4th street and even significant parts of 8th and 9th (above christian) have retail offerings, I do feel the area is a bit over retailed yet it is also underdeveloped.  What I mean by this is south street kind of sucks.  I may go to cohen’s for hardware and bought a video game once from EB Games.  But other than that I do not shop there.  With all of the clothing shops etc. that are around very few appeal to the locals (the gap coming back or an H&M etc. would be good).  But at the same time I don’t want South street to lose its flavor completely and look like rittenhouse.  But still, for a retail street bordering two of the wealthiest areas in the city, south street sucks and very few locals shop there.

  • Neighbor

    I live down the block. New BV resident here. This building has been an empty dump since I moved in. Happy to see it turn into something other than a dilapidated mess.

    When did the old restaurant go out of business? The building must have been in bad shape for a purchase and a gut Reno to be profitable…

    In general I am happy with the commercial offerings nearby. However I wouldn’t mind more if it would be sustainabe. It seems like the bar on the corner of 8th and fitzwater keeps going out of business so I don’t know if we already have enough commercial…

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