There’s a major mystery unfurling on East Market Street: Will the Proof be in the pizza?
Insiders tell Insider Louisville the biggest restaurant news in Nulu may be the addition of a boutique pizza restaurant by the same investors who brought you 21C Hotel and Proof on Main restaurant.
Laura Lee Brown, her husband Steve Wilson and four other investors created the 21C hotel concept and Proof restaurant, urban facilities with the latest in modern art.
Those investors have announced plans to open 21C hotels in Cincinnati, Bentonville, Ark., and Austin, Texas in the next year, with a total of 15 hotels opening during the next five years.
Insiders say after a round of rehab and restoration, the restaurant will open in a former gas station and auto repair garage at 700 E. Market Street, a building that dates from the 1920s.
Why would the 21C/Proof partners want to do a pizza place in Nulu?
Good question.
Our insiders add they’re sworn to secrecy about project details including the name and how it will be branded. But they assure Insider Louisville the start of the project is imminent, with the goal of getting the restaurant open by Derby Day, May 7, 2011.
A search of Property Valuation Administration records show the .31-acre property (a largish parcel, considering its location) is owned by Geiger Street Properties LLC, a trust for the Tasman family of Louisville.
Insider Louisville queried Greenbaum, Doll & McDonnell attorney Charles Fassler – listed as Geiger Street’s organizer in Kentucky Attorney General business records – as to whether the property has been sold.
Fassler responded by e-mail, stating he was not involved in the transaction.
But was there a transaction?
Stephanie Green, communications manager for 21c and Proof, did not return calls and e-mails for comment.
Geiger Street purchased the property in December 2009 for $370,000, according to PVA documents. The site already is zoned commercial.
Who can keep up with all the changes in NuLu?
There are at least four new restaurants planned for 2011 including Decca and Harvest.
Terry Boyd has seven years experience as a business/finance journalist, and eight years a military reporter with European Stars and Stripes. As a banking and finance reporter at Business First, Boyd dealt directly with the most influential executives and financiers in Louisville.
