Stone Creek Coffee, Salon Nova, other new businesses reviving Milwaukee's Downer Ave.

Months before they opened their new Milwaukee business, Michael and Nova Grober-Beschta were welcomed by neighborhood residents who popped into the N. Downer Ave. building while they were renovating the space.

"They're so happy there's not another empty storefront," Michael Grober-Beschta said.

The couple's Salon Nova & Lash Boutique is one of two businesses that opened this month in the Downer Ave. commercial area on Milwaukee's east side. Along with a clothing store that opened last fall and a Stone Creek Coffee that plans to open in January, the two-block business district is being revived.

There's also renewed hope that one of the street's anchors, the Downer Theatre, will be around for the long term. That's despite the recent news that its companion business, the Oriental Theatre, will have a different operator starting next summer.

RELATED:Milwaukee Film Festival will take over Oriental Theatre, with plans to revitalize the landmark

"I think you're going to see additional development on Downer Avenue," said Richard "Rocky" Marcoux, city development commissioner. "It's like a logjam breaking."

More development is needed in the Downer Ave. business district, which runs between E. Webster and E. Park places. The district still has six retail vacancies totaling around 11,300 square feet.

That includes the former Einstein Bros. Bagels and Chancery Restaurant, which have been empty since 2006 and 2007, respectively.

Those two adjacent spaces, along with a third neighboring empty storefront, total around 8,000 square feet, according to leasing agent NAI MLG Commercial LLC.

The latest developments are coming within two years of a foreclosure auction that resulted in much of Downer Ave.'s commercial space getting a new owner.

The foreclosed buildings, at 2551-2597 N. Downer Ave. and 2608-2650 N. Downer Ave., were owned for several years by Downer Delaware LLC, a group led by Joel Lee, president of Van Buren Management Inc.

Their tenants include Starbucks, Boswell Book Co., Downer Theatre, Pizza Man restaurant and Henry's Pub and Grille on the west side of Downer Ave., and Cafe Hollander, Downer Cleaners, Breadsmith, Optix on Downer and Downer Wine & Spirits on the street's east side.

Downer Delaware owed $10.5 million when the foreclosure suit was filed, according to court records. The group's plans to redevelop the buildings, including a condo tower, were hurt when the housing bubble burst, followed by the Great Recession.

An investment group with ties to New York-based financing firm C-III Capital Partners LLC took control of the properties after a judge confirmed its $6.5 million auction bid in September 2015.

The new owner began investing in the buildings and started marketing the street-level retail space, as well as second-floor offices in the building on Downer Ave.'s west side.

ARCHIVE:Downer Ave. businesses hope to see long-term vacancies filled

That work paid off last November, when Roots Underground Outfitters opened at 2622 N. Downer Ave., in Paperwork stationery's former location.

Roots Underground, which sells men's clothing, moved there from 5328 W. Vliet St. because owners Francis "Woody" Burns and Liam Duax wanted a location with more foot traffic.

Their research included sitting at BelAir Cantina, just across Downer Ave., and counting the people passing by their future store, Burns said.

The rent is double what they paid on Vliet St.

"So far, it's definitely been worth it," Burns said.

Meanwhile, Robert Laurence Hair Studio leased the former Olive organic clothing store, 2624 N. Downer Ave., opening on July 7. It moved there from 4060 N. Oakland Ave., Shorewood, where the hair salon operated for 23 years, with that building to be razed for a new North Shore Bank branch.

Kevin McElroy, who owns the business with his mother, Beverly Sullivan, wanted to be in an area with a neighborhood feel.

Downer Ave.'s strong foot traffic has McElroy and Sullivan adding a small barber shop with a separate entrance on the building's N. Hackett Ave. side.

"Every day there are new people coming in and making appointments," McElroy said.

Salon Nova's owners have received a similarly warm welcome. The business moved from less visible upper-floor space at 1437 E. Brady St. to the former Ma Jolie boutique, 2581 N. Downer, opening on July 8.

The neighboring former Chancery and Einstein Bros. vacancies aren't a concern for the Salon Nova owners.

"We thought the street is on an upswing," Michael Grober-Beschta said. "We feel that those spaces will fill soon."

The street's vacancies also aren't a problem for Eric Resch, Stone Creek Coffee's founder. The Milwaukee-based coffee shop group plans to open its first east side location at 2650 N. Downer Ave.

"We just love Downer Avenue," Resch said. "We think it's one of the most historic retail sections in the city. It just fit our vibe."

Stone Creek's plans include a partly covered three-season patio, as well as a separate walk-up window for people to buy coffee and other items without coming inside the cafe. The main entrance would face E. Park Place, with seating for 100 people divided evenly between inside and the patio.

RELATED:Stone Creek to fill vacant Downer Ave. site

The cafe would bring life to a corner that's been vacant since an Associated Bank branch moved out of the building to 2590 N. Downer Ave. in 2008, said leasing broker Brian Vanevenhoven, of NAI MLG Commercial.

Stone Creek's plans, approved this month by the Historic Preservation Commission and Plan Commission, will undergo review by the Common Council's Zoning, Neighborhoods and Development Committee on Tuesday.

Resch hopes to begin renovating the space in August, with the coffee shop opening in January.

Perhaps the biggest issue for Downer Ave. is the Downer Theatre's future.

The cinema opened in 1915. It is now operated by Los Angeles-based Landmark Theatres, a national art house circuit.

In June, Milwaukee Film Inc., the nonprofit group which organizes the Milwaukee Film Festival, announced it had signed a long-term lease for the Oriental Theatre, which Landmark currently operates.

That raises questions about whether Landmark will continue to operate the two-screen Downer after it loses control of the three-screen Oriental, 2230 N. Farwell Ave., in July 2018.  

Landmark Chief Executive Officer Ted Mundorff told the Journal Sentinel in February 2015 that Landmark needs both theaters to remain viable in Milwaukee.

Mundorff didn't respond to recent requests for more information about Landmark's plans for the Downer Theatre.

Sources have said Milwaukee Film, with annual revenue of over $1.8 million, also wants to take control of the Downer Theatre.

As with the Oriental, the organization would use the Downer to mainly show new independent films, as well as documentaries and foreign-language movies.

As long as Landmark continues to lease the Downer "we will have no comment on our interest in the Downer Theatre," said Jonathan Jackson, Milwaukee Film executive and artistic director.

"We are focused on renting the Oriental Theatre and Downer Theatre for the 2017 Milwaukee Film Festival from Landmark Theatres and on our Oriental Theatre lease we have that begins July 1, 2018," Jackson said, in a statement.

Regardless of what happens with the Downer Theatre, the presence of new businesses on Downer Ave. is a welcome development, said Daniel Goldin, owner of Boswell Book Co.

"Empty spaces stop people from walking down the street," Goldin said.

Tom Daykin can be reached attdaykin@jrn.com