Greyhouse Coffee expansion coming in West Lafayette Village Popular coffeehouse and new building owner settle on long-term lease at prime corner near Purdue

Dave Bangert | Lafayette Journal & Courier

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – When the new owner of the Miller Building called the historic spot that dates to 1893 “the most high-profile corner location” in the West Lafayette Village, the immediate question after the March acquisition was: What happens next for the high-profile shop in the corner of that building?

The answer came this week: Greyhouse Coffee & Supply Co., a coffeehouse closing in on a decade in that spot, is there to stay.

Miller Building’s new owner Marc Muinzer and Purdue Christian Campus House, which owns Greyhouse, confirmed that they’d negotiated a new, long-term lease.

The deal clears the way for an expansion of Greyhouse into a neighboring space in a building that features a mix of retail, restaurants, offices and apartments at the corner of State Street, South Street and Northwestern Avenue.

“Both the Miller Building and Greyhouse are a part of the fabric of this community and we wanted to ensure the preservation of both,” Muinzer said.

Muinzer’s Chicago-based State Street Capital firm paired with T2 Capital Management of Wheaton, Illinois, to buy the Miller Building this spring for $4.7 million. The sale came as developers looked at a number of projects amid the $120 million State Street renovation project in West Lafayette and Purdue University.

Dana McKinnis, director of operations for Campus House, said it was clear that Muinzer wanted Greyhouse to stay and to expand.

“The change in ownership of the Miller building and the continued escalation of real estate prices in the Chauncey Hill area meant staying under a different rent structure that is significantly higher,” McKinnis said. “We had to do some earnest number crunching and planning to make sure we could still be viable in our current location.”

McKinnis said the plan is to increase seating, provide a larger private venue space and expand the kitchen by early 2018. Greyhouse opened in 2008.

“We hope our planned expansion in retail space and menu items can cover our increasing costs, and we can continue to serve the Purdue and Greater Lafayette community at our current location,” McKinnis said.

Muinzer said he plans for the rest of the Miller Building include apartment and office uses on the upper floors. The corner business, though, is settled.

“I really liked the Greyhouse team the second I met them,” Muinzer said. “We had higher offers for the space from other tenants but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Maybe I'm getting soft in my old age.”

Reach Dave Bangert at 765-420-5258 or at dbangert@gannett.com.