Gung-Ho, a local developer, has closed escrow and now owns the north-facing ground-floor commercial spaces of the Montage, located at 255 North Sierra Street.
The large, cavernous commercial spaces have been vacant ever since the Montage was constructed in 2009. There was a brief possibility that Ruth Chris’ Steakhouse was going to occupy one of the spaces early-on, but that deal fell through.
Gung-Ho Investments, owned by local developer John Wade, took me and Barber Brief’s Alicia Barber on a tour, showing us the plans that he ambitiously plans to complete and open within a year (next September).
The Gung-Ho Hive as it’s being called, will include a fine dining restaurant, cigar bar, co-working spaces, a coffee shop/café, wine bar and event spaces, along with a storage facility that would be available for all downtown residents.
The spaces are being designed by architect Todd Copenhaver
Gung-Ho is looking to complete the project by next September.
Roll-up windows will be installed along North Sierra Street as part of the cafe/coffee shop concept.
The rear portion of the commercial space will be converted to publicly-available storage units, something probably every downtown resident could use. I'm currently storing a kayak for a friend of mine who lives in Arlington Towers (and grateful to get to use said kayak as well ha ha).
The large, cavernous spaces are essentially a blank slate for Gung-Ho to completely develop out.
In addition to developing out the commercial spaces in the north section of the building, Gung-Ho's John Wade also plans a brand new addition to the Montage after completing the movie theater renovations, dubbed 'The Spire'. This concept includes "co-working office space, hotel suites, penthouse, and the world’s most beautiful parking garage," according to the developer.
