Posted: 5:18 p.m.
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Dining, retail destination coming to former TV
Middletown building
By http://www.journal-news.com/staff/eric-schwartzberg/" rel="nofollow - Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN —
Ami
Vitori purchased a 38,000-square-foot building at 1131 Central Ave. in downtown Middletown last Friday to
create a “destination corner” for dining, retail and entertainment on the
street level.
That
level’s $250,000 renovation effort launched this week and is clearing the way
for Gracie’s, an “upscale comfort food-type restaurant” named after Vitori’s
grandmother.
Also
in the early stages of planning are a wellness and yoga studio and an indoor
children’s play place, plus 1,000 square feet of “ready-to-go” retail space.
“I
feel like there’s a lot of great things going on that I didn’t want to have
just a storefront,” she said. “I want to make this a whole corner destination,
where people are going to drive 20 to 30 minutes here as opposed to the
reverse.”
Vitori
said she is focused on renovating the street level in the coming few months so
that there are retail-ready spaces for lease.
Build-out
of the restaurant should start by late summer with an opening set to occur
before year’s end, she said.
Vitori
said she wants to preserve the “great set-up” http://www.journal-news.com/news/news/tv-middletown-to-sign-off-permanently/npkZT/" rel="nofollow - on
the second floor by approaching local schools and universities about using the
built-out studio space and extensive film, editing and broadcast equipment.
Planning
for the third floor is still in the works, she said.
The
building, which will also get a makeover to its front-facing facade, will be
known as Torchlight
Pass.
“The
idea (behind the name) is … that history of Middletown and what’s so great
about where we’ve come from but kind of moving now into this new, modern,
progressed future version of what Middletown could be. So it’s paying homage to
the old, but kind of knowing what we want to do moving forward.
Born
and raised in Middletown,
Vitori’s family history is interwoven with the city’s own. Her grandparents ran
Vitori’s Market in Mayfield and her great-grandfather started Amatulli’s
Produce, which is still in operation today.
“My
heart has always been in Middletown,”
she said. “I have lots of ideas for helping our community and lots of energy to
get it done. It’s going to take both.”
After
high school, Vitori spent more than two decades away from Middletown,
10 of them in Los Angeles as a movie producer
and eight years in Washington,
D.C., with Vitori Trend, a
branding and strategic communications firm she still runs. She said she knew
she would return to family in Middletown
with husband Kevin Kiminer and their three sons.
“I
just knew there would be something in Middletown
to be part of the revitalization, so I started coming downtown a lot because
that’s where a lot of the new businesses are starting,” she said.
She
said she fell in love with the building’s size, corner location and the
abundant amount of outdoor space it afforded.
It
also helps that she looked into the project at a time city officials and
organizations are partnering with entrepreneurs both in and outside of Middletown to spur
revitalization efforts in the area.
“To
me there were just a lot of things that felt like they were percolating, and …
the next six months to a year could be the tipping point,” she said.
Mallory
Greenham, executive director for former tenant Downtown Middletown Inc., said
the thought of vibrant downtown districts tends to evoke the image of densely
populated areas with diverse business offerings.
“Torchlight Pass’
plans to renovate first floor space that was primarily used for office space to
return retail and restaurant space to downtown Middletown will no doubt, once completed,
contribute to an increase in both,” Greenham said.
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