Former Italian Restaurant Has New Owners
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Information reprinted with permission of the Courier Times, local newspaper New Castle, Indiana 1/20/2014 3:14:00 PM |
| By SARA GEER sgeer@thecouriertimes.com Developers for the Jennings Building project have purchased a second building downtown: the former Bella Vita Italian restaurant. Officers of Historic Properties Inc. visited New Castle last week to finalize the purchase and construction plans of the building located at 1326 Broad St. CEO Ray Willey and chief operating officer Bill Brown worked with New Castle business owners and community leaders to acquire the location, according to the Henry County-New Castle Economic Development Corporation. One of the primary goals of the purchase is to assist in the emerging redevelopment of New Castle's historic downtown corridor. Plans for the first floor is to locate a new Italian restaurant where Bella Vita once existed, Willey said. "We believe that re-establishing a first class Italian eatery will be a great addition to the downtown," Willey said. Plans for the second floor include adding an apartment and office. The Jennings development team will lease the apartment and the office will serve as the general contractor's field office for the on-site project manager. Mayor Greg York said this project is standalone, yet will aid the Jennings Building project. "This is a project they will begin to construct immediately since it provides space for their workers for when they begin to work on the Jennings Building," York said. "The papers are signed and they headed to the bank on Thursday before they left. It shows to New Castle that they are financially committed to this city." The construction timeline for the restaurant is about 4-5 months. Penny York, EDC special projects manager, said that possibly in 30 days a Dumpster will be seen outside the former restaurant. Former Indianapolis businessman Tim Durham closed the restaurant, originally named Bella Vita and then called Durhams Ristorante, in August 2010, after about two years of operation. It included Italian food, flat screen TVs and an indoor waterfall. Durham went bankrupt and later was found guilty of swindling investors in a finance company out of millions of dollars. In 2012, another man, Eric Zimmerman, announced plans to open an American cuisine restaurant there called The Front Door. He had purchased the building out of foreclosure. It closed in August 2012 after less than two months in business. "It is certainly exciting for New Castle and Henry County to have the plan for the building to be re-inhabited," Penny York said. Sara Geer is a staff writer at The New Castle Courier-Times. |
