Restaurants are no easy business, especially during Covidtimes. To make it even a handful of years should be considered a success, so the Adobe Cafe in Roxborough holding on strong since 1989 is nothing short of remarkable. This spot has long been bringing Southwestern and Mexican fare in a family friendly environment, even opening another location in Bella Vista. So it is with a heavy heart that we report that the original location at 4550 Mitchell St. is likely to make a big shift soon.
The property went on the market about a year ago, going under contract last summer at a $1.4M list price. At some point in the near future, the restaurant is going to close its doors, as developers have pulled a zoning permit to demolish the existing buildings on the site, hiring CosciaMoos to design a building to bring 38 new units over 1,500 sqft of commercial space. Here are some images to give you a sense of the plans for the site, even though we don’t have renderings just yet.
In addition to utilizing the mixed-income and green roof bonuses to increase the permitted density and bump the height to 45 feet (beyond the normal 38-foot limit for CMX-2), what clearly stands out is the sunken entrance on the south side of the site. This is an interesting approach, with the residential “front door” of the building set 36 feet back and maybe ten feet down from the street, which will open up more light for units while satisfying the 75% lot coverage maximum for this zoning. You might also notice this contains zero car parking, with 16 bicycle spots. We have to give a nod to the creative use of space and we are intrigued to see how the design shakes out.
As you can see above, this development isn’t taking place in a vacuum. While Roxborough is known mostly as a single-family area architecturally, this increasingly appealing area has seen development start to pop-up throughout neighborhood. There are ample potential development sites in this area, so don’t be surprised to see more action out this way soon enough. And you can always make your way to Bella Vista if you need to satiate that Adobe fix.