Interval Cafe Faces Eviction on East Side
Company has vacated Bay View cafe, and faces eviction from Jackson St. location.
Interval Coffee Shop, 1600-1602 N. Jackson St. Photo by Mariiana Tzotcheva
If Interval plans to reopen its two Milwaukee cafes, it’ll first need to find new locations.
Less than three weeks after its abrupt and indefinite closure, the coffee shop has vacated its Bay View space and is now facing eviction from its Lower East Side location.
A five-day notice for the business’s flagship at 1600 N. Jackson St. appeared in online court records April 14, ordering owner Ryan Hoban to pay overdue rent or vacate the premises by the end of the day April 19. If the issue isn’t resolved, the case could move to court — the first step in a formal eviction process.
Meanwhile, Interval’s Bay View location, 2268 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., is for lease, according to signs posted April 3.
Interval opened its Jackson Street location in 2018, marking Hoban’s first solo venture after parting ways with Pilcrow Coffee. Pleasant Jackson, LLC, with Eric Seegers as registered agent, is the building owner. An entity called 2266KK LLC, registered to Dean Castelaz, owns the Bay View building.
Both cafes closed suddenly on March 28. According to one Bay View customer, employees opened the business as usual but asked guests to leave around 8:30 a.m. The cafe was then closed, with signs posted stating the staff had not been paid. Later, the original message was replaced with a different notice: “Closed until further notice. Sorry for the inconvenience!”
A photo of the original sign gained rapid momentum on Milwaukee’s subreddit, as nearly 200 commenters shared their thoughts on the cafe, with some accusing Hoban of dishonest business practices.
Interval has since restricted comments on its Instagram profile.
Court records show Interval had been facing financial challenges for years. The business, according to public tax records, had delinquent tax warrants filed against it by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue almost monthly dating back to 2019, though many have been satisfied. A public Wisconsin delinquent taxpayer database shows the company currently owes more than $49,600 in payroll and sales tax payments.
On April 15, the Department of Revenue filed a new lawsuit seeking more than $5,300 in unpaid taxes.
In the weeks after the closure, local businesses including Bittercube, Heirloom Liqueurs and Discourse supported Interval employees with donations. A GoFundMe is raising additional funds and had generated $2,740 of its $5,000 goal as of April 14.
Hoban also owns Neighborly Coffee Roasters, which previously supplied beans for his two cafes, along with wholesale services and a monthly subscription for at-home brewing.
Hoban, who told reporter Jordyn Noennig earlier this month that he was traveling abroad, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
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Anodyne should try to hire these ex workers (and join the new union) and get into those locations too, as they’re missing the East Side market.