Historic tire building set to be re-tread as Starbucks
By Jenni Glenn
The Journal Gazette
An endangered historic building will be transformed into a Starbucks coffee shop, a project expected to cost more than $1 million, the project contractor said.
Developer N3 Capital LLC plans to renovate the Firestone Tire Building at 502 W. Jefferson Blvd., which has been vacant for six years. The project would preserve the tire store’s unusual tower, said Harry Chapman of Marathon Builders Inc., the project contractor. The coffee shop will be designed with art deco features to match the style of the 47-foot tower.
“It will blend in with the Starbucks portion of the building,” Chapman said. Part of the Firestone Tire Building that is not architecturally significant will be torn down to make way for the coffee shop, he said. Starbucks could open there as soon as this summer.
A seating area under the tower will be open to the elements so Starbucks customers can enjoy fresh air, Chapman said. Glass doors will close off the area when there is inclement weather. Coffee giant Starbucks has eight stores in the Fort Wayne market, according to the company’s Web site. This location, at the northwest corner of Jefferson Boulevard and Fairfield Avenue, will be the first one in downtown Fort Wayne.
Higher Grounds has a coffee shop less than a mile away, at Wayne and South Calhoun streets. Co-owner John Richards Jr. said Starbucks should not have much effect on his coffee shop’s business. Most of Higher Grounds’ downtown customers come from the City-County Building or the Allen County Courthouse, he said. Higher Grounds will be closer to those buildings than Starbucks.
Starbucks’ planned drive-through could take a chunk of the customers looking to get coffee in a hurry, Richards said. But he believes Higher Grounds’ quality coffee and service will keep the business thriving. “We try to offer the whole experience,” he said. “It’s the cup of coffee, but it’s also the cheerfulness.” Higher Grounds coffee is served at seven locations in Fort Wayne, including two Lassus Bros. Handy Dandy gas stations and the Anchor Room.
The company developing the downtown Starbucks – Dallas-based Marathon Builders – also developed the one at the corner of Lima and Dupont roads, Chapman said.
The Firestone Tire Building is on ARCH Inc.’s list of the most endangered structures in Fort Wayne. The art deco tower dates to the 1930s, said Angie Quinn, executive director of ARCH, the non-profit historic preservation organization.
The city has offered the developers up to $105,000 in grants and loans to help clean up the site, said Lisa Lange, executive director of the Fort Wayne Redevelopment Commission. Two underground storage tanks, leftover from the building’s days as a garage, will need to be removed.