For over a year, we’ve been keeping you abreast of developments at 2101 Christian St., one of the most outstanding and thoughtful rehabs we’ve seen in quite awhile. Since last April (as in 2011), the buzz has been that the owners and renovators of the property would be opening and operating a little sandwich shop in a commercial space in the building. Now, as the rehab project comes to a close, we’ve discovered that the plan has changed.

Nearly finished

The other day, browsing around on Craigslist, we came upon this listing: “High visibility location in recently restored building on Graduate Hospital’s nicest corner. This classic corner store is zoned for take-out food but retail use will be considered. Many upgrades were performed in the renovation which should make for an easy, relatively inexpensive build-out…” We checked in with the property owners, who explained to us that they had every intention to open a business in the space, but other professional opportunities came along which made operating a small retail business impossible.

The retail space

It’s a shame, but we suspect that they will be able to find a tenant, considering the beautifully appointed building surrounding the space. We looked in the windows and saw a rather small interior, with about 300 sqft of space. There is an additional 300 sqft in the basement, which would ostensibly be used for storage and prep in a food application.

So… what would people like to see here? A sandwich shop from another operator? An ice cream parlor? Something else entirely? The only thing that seems particularly unlikely here is a coffee shop, considering the fairly saturated (and soon to be more saturated) cafe scene in the neighborhood.

If you might be interested in the space, you can email the owners here- according to the Craigslist ad, they’re looking for $1500/mo.