Plats and Parcels
Developers Covet Former Buca’s Site
One of last, best undeveloped downtown sites. Plus: All the week's real estate news.
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One of last, best undeveloped downtown sites. Plus: All the week's real estate news. Back to the full article.
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It would be good to see this site redeveloped. In general, the blocks of Van Buren from Juneau to Ogden are an ugly mishmash of surface parking lots and inconsistent architecture (for example the dry former cleaner converted to a Subway between two 19th century apartment buildings).
The health club has an interesting history. Originally an independently owned facility focused on racquetball, it became a “Vic Tanny Executive Club”. By that time Vic Tanny was part of the Bally health club empire. It eventually lost its “executive club” status and was rebranded as a Bally Total Fitness. The place became very rundown, Bally went bust, and it was operated as Blast Fitness until closing.
The restaurant was originally called (I think) “TJ Peppercorn”, then the space had a long (and mostly successful) run as DKC’s Armadillo Grill, then Buca (not sure how long Buca ran – more than 10 years I think, perhaps 15 years).