Troppo will move into a new building across the street from its current downtown location.
Troppo to move to sunny side of street
Jeremy W. Steele • jwsteele@lsj.com • September 21, 2008 • From Lansing State Journal
It started as a desire to be on the sunny side of the street.
But a plan to move Troppo across Michigan Avenue could do more for downtown Lansing than provide a bright dining spot.
Officials say the project, which would top $1 million, is a way to reshape downtown's main intersection of Michigan and Washington Square - and provide more fuel for a developing entertainment district.
Restaurateur Kris Elliott plans to break ground in about six weeks on a building at the northeast corner of the intersection to house his fine dining establishment. Troppo now sits on the southeast corner.
"We need critical mass, and I think we're getting it," said Elliott, who moved Troppo from downtown East Lansing in 2004. "We're very excited for all the things going on down here."
The new restaurant would be more than twice the size of the current space.
Elliott would move his Tavern on the Square into the current Troppo space, which is about 5,300 square feet. That would leave Tavern's 3,100-square-foot spot at 206 S. Washington Square open for a new venue.
The new Troppo would be built on what's now a concrete pedestrian plaza adjacent to the One Michigan Avenue office building. Elliott led a $10 million deal to buy the building in March.
But the idea to put a restaurant at the site goes back nearly three years, he said.
The sunnier side
From Troppo's patio on the south side of Michigan Avenue, Elliott said he saw potential. His patio was always in the shade because it's on the north side of an office tower.
"We were looking across the street and saw the sun was always shining on the IBM building," he said.
Sun is key to good patio space, he said. And good patio space is key to the restaurant business.
Elliott said he began tossing around the idea of opening some sort of food stand with a patio in that sunny spot. That idea took a turn as Troppo hit its stride.
"Troppo grew so wildly successful we said we didn't need a patio, we needed a whole new restaurant," he said.
The new restaurant could be up to 14,000 square feet. It would include a 200-person ballroom-like space on the second floor and a possible rooftop dining patio.
Elliott said the first floor would keep the feel of Troppo's existing space.
He'd likely add about 30 workers, most of them part time, to the current staff of 50. Tavern could go from 35 workers to 50.
Council OK needed
The Lansing Economic Development Corp. has given preliminary approval to a $440,000 loan to help pay for the Troppo project, President Bob Trezise said.
The loan, from a revolving loan fund for economic development projects, would be payable over 15 years at 1 percentage point below the prime rate.
The project requires Lansing City Council approval.
"It's not just a project or restaurant, it's a total restyling of what we think is the most important intersection in the state of Michigan," Trezise said. "It is literally the doorway to the Capitol building itself."
'Real comeback'
The expansion of Troppo also builds on more than a decade of work by restaurateurs and bar owners to build up downtown.
Elliott opened 621, which he later sold, at 621 E. Michigan Ave. in 1997, shortly after developer Harry Hepler opened his Blue Coyote Brewing Co. around the corner on Pere Marquette Drive.
Developments like a new Troppo are helping to boost the area, Hepler said. He said he's even toyed with reopening the brewery, which closed in 2000.
"The town has made a real comeback," he said. "The more synergy, the better."