Entrepreneur proposes scaled-back restaurant and ultra lounge on Capitol Square – Madison.com
A Madison entrepreneur has proposed to open The Southern Skillet Bistro and Ultra Lounge in the former Brocach Irish Pub space at 7 W. Main St. on Capitol Square.
After withdrawing a bid for a large ultra lounge nightclub in a vacant big-box store on the Far West Side, a Madison entrepreneur is proposing a scaled-back nightclub and restaurant in a vacant building on Capitol Square.
In late July, Amarion James applied for city entertainment and liquor licenses under the name Lush Adult Entertainment to open what he described as an “Ultra Lounge” in a 30,000-square-foot vacant store with a listed capacity of 3,500 people at 7333 West Towne Way next to Office Max, Nordstrom Rack and Best Buy.
But in early August James withdrew the applications and said he intended to pursue a scaled-back establishment, likely at another site.
Now, James, again under the name of Lush Adult Entertainment, has submitted applications to open “The Southern Skillet Bistro and Ultra Lounge” with an indoor capacity of 500 in the former Brocach Irish Pub space at 7 W. Main St. The space has been vacant since Brocach closed after nearly 15 years in business in April 2019.
The new proposal is “completely different from the last concept,” James said Tuesday. “It’s a supper club type of venue. It’s something different. It’s unique. It’s unlike any other bar or restaurant in Madison.”
The site is superior to the initial location because it already has the equipment and furnishings to function as a bar and restaurant, he said.
The application says the establishment will generate 40% of its income from alcohol sales and 60% from food, and offer entertainment including DJs, live jazz, poetry and spoken word. It would be open from 10:30 a.m. until 2 a.m. Mondays through Fridays, and from 8 a.m. until 2:30 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
The menus would include Southern dishes and soul food with servings at brunch and dinnertime, James said. There would be space for patrons to dance, he said.
The applications anticipate an opening on Jan. 1, 2022.
Downtown Ald. Mike Verveer, 4th District, who also sits on the city’s Alcohol License Review Committee, reacted cautiously to the proposal.
James, he said, did not offer a well-thought-out business plan for his initial location and the new application is thus far incomplete, lacking a business plan and a contingency for a lease of the two-story building, which has 8,621 square feet of space plus a basement. The building was constructed in 1914 and remodeled in 2016.
The liquor license application is unusual because the type of business is listed as a tavern, nightclub, restaurant and ultra lounge, compared to most applications that list just one of the first three options, Verveer said.
On its face, the income percentages listed qualify as a bona fide restaurant, Verveer said, adding, “I would certainly welcome a bona fide restaurant to Capitol Square or any place Downtown.”
“I want to give the applicant the benefit of the doubt,” he said. “(But) I’ll need to be convinced. I will need to have a significant conversation with the applicant, as does the neighborhood association, as does the Police Department.”
The Alcohol License Review Committee is tentatively scheduled to consider the applications on Nov. 24, Deputy City Clerk Jim Verbick said.
As initially proposed, the nightclub likely would have been the city’s largest, surpassing Liquid/Ruby, with a capacity of 720 in a 21,394-square-foot space at 624 University Ave.; Lucky’s 1313, capacity of 715 in a 10,156-square-foot space at 1313 Regent St.; and Red Zone, with a capacity of 625 in a 5,077-square-foot space at 1212 Regent St. There are larger event spaces, but they are typically used for concerts and shows.
The American Exchange Building, 1 N. Pinckney St. on Capitol Square, will be preserved as part of a $125 million redevelopment on the block, mixing preservation and new construction. Urban Land Interests has donated prime first-floor space in the building and an adjacent storefront to the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County for temporary use as offices, a volunteer center and other needs.
Workers carry artwork into the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County’s new downtown hub in Madison, Wis. Friday, April 2, 2021. Madison development company Urban Land Interests has temporarily donated to the organization the first floors of pair of commercial spaces along North Pinckney Street on Capitol Square, including the landmark former American Exchange building. The clubs will use the spaces for an office and as a nonprofit volunteer center and training facility, and it will become a home to the grassroots organization Feeding The Youth and the Black Men Coalition of Dane County. Online publication Madison365 and Boys & Girls Clubs of Wisconsin will also have a presence there. Urban Land Interests, which owns multiple properties on the Square and recently won city permission for a $125 million redevelopment on the block, has made the prime commercial spaces available to the entities until construction begins on the project, which is expected to be no sooner than late 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Visitors to an open house showing of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County’s new downtown hub view the interior of the organization’s space in Madison, Wis. Friday, April 2, 2021. Madison development company Urban Land Interests has temporarily donated to the organization the first floors of pair of commercial spaces along North Pinckney Street on Capitol Square, including the landmark former American Exchange building. The clubs will use the spaces for an office and as a nonprofit volunteer center and training facility, and it will become a home to the grassroots organization Feeding The Youth and the Black Men Coalition of Dane County. Online publication Madison365 and Boys & Girls Clubs of Wisconsin will also have a presence there. Urban Land Interests, which owns multiple properties on the Square and recently won city permission for a $125 million redevelopment on the block, has made the prime commercial spaces available to the entities until construction begins on the project, which is expected to be no sooner than late 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Visitors to an open house showing of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County’s new downtown hub view the interior of the organization’s space in Madison, Wis. Friday, April 2, 2021. Madison development company Urban Land Interests has temporarily donated to the organization the first floors of pair of commercial spaces along North Pinckney Street on Capitol Square, including the landmark former American Exchange building. The clubs will use the spaces for an office and as a nonprofit volunteer center and training facility, and it will become a home to the grassroots organization Feeding The Youth and the Black Men Coalition of Dane County. Online publication Madison365 and Boys & Girls Clubs of Wisconsin will also have a presence there. Urban Land Interests, which owns multiple properties on the Square and recently won city permission for a $125 million redevelopment on the block, has made the prime commercial spaces available to the entities until construction begins on the project, which is expected to be no sooner than late 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Visitors to an open house showing of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County’s new downtown hub view the interior of the organization’s space in Madison, Wis. Friday, April 2, 2021. Madison development company Urban Land Interests has temporarily donated to the organization the first floors of pair of commercial spaces along North Pinckney Street on Capitol Square, including the landmark former American Exchange building. The clubs will use the spaces for an office and as a nonprofit volunteer center and training facility, and it will become a home to the grassroots organization Feeding The Youth and the Black Men Coalition of Dane County. Online publication Madison365 and Boys & Girls Clubs of Wisconsin will also have a presence there. Urban Land Interests, which owns multiple properties on the Square and recently won city permission for a $125 million redevelopment on the block, has made the prime commercial spaces available to the entities until construction begins on the project, which is expected to be no sooner than late 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Visitors to an open house showing of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County’s new downtown hub view the interior of the organization’s space in Madison, Wis. Friday, April 2, 2021. Madison development company Urban Land Interests has temporarily donated to the organization the first floors of pair of commercial spaces along North Pinckney Street on Capitol Square, including the landmark former American Exchange building. The clubs will use the spaces for an office and as a nonprofit volunteer center and training facility, and it will become a home to the grassroots organization Feeding The Youth and the Black Men Coalition of Dane County. Online publication Madison365 and Boys & Girls Clubs of Wisconsin will also have a presence there. Urban Land Interests, which owns multiple properties on the Square and recently won city permission for a $125 million redevelopment on the block, has made the prime commercial spaces available to the entities until construction begins on the project, which is expected to be no sooner than late 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
Visitors to an open house showing of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County’s new downtown hub view the interior of the organization’s space in Madison, Wis. Friday, April 2, 2021. Madison development company Urban Land Interests has temporarily donated to the organization the first floors of pair of commercial spaces along North Pinckney Street on Capitol Square, including the landmark former American Exchange building. The clubs will use the spaces for an office and as a nonprofit volunteer center and training facility, and it will become a home to the grassroots organization Feeding The Youth and the Black Men Coalition of Dane County. Online publication Madison365 and Boys & Girls Clubs of Wisconsin will also have a presence there. Urban Land Interests, which owns multiple properties on the Square and recently won city permission for a $125 million redevelopment on the block, has made the prime commercial spaces available to the entities until construction begins on the project, which is expected to be no sooner than late 2022. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
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Dean Mosiman covers Madison city government for the Wisconsin State Journal.
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A Madison entrepreneur has proposed to open The Southern Skillet Bistro and Ultra Lounge in the former Brocach Irish Pub space at 7 W. Main St. on Capitol Square.
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