Kaitlin L Lange

IndyStar

Good news for cat lovers: Indiana’s first cat cafe could be opening soon in Indianapolis.

Eric Hubbard, 49, and Selena Hubbard, 23 — a father-daughter team — plan to open Nine Lives Cat Café at 1315 Shelby St. in Fountain Square by the end of the summer. They'll be located near Fountain Square Brewery and Thunderbird restaurant in a building shared with Hello Hair Studio and BodySpace Yoga & Wellness.

A cat cafe is exactly what it sounds like: Customers could order coffee, other beverages and pastries, and then move into a separate room to play with cats. While the two haven’t finalized prices yet, they plan to charge a cover price in order to care for the cats. They'll be using Brickhouse Coffee Roasters.

Cat cafes originally started overseas in Taiwan before making their way to other countries and eventually to the United States in 2014. The first shop, Cat Town Cafe, opened in Oakland, Calif. There are now cafes in Washington, D.C., San Diego and New York City.

The Hubbards have always talked about opening a coffee shop someday. Selena Hubbard recently left her job at Starbucks after working there for five years. Eric Hubbard is an adjunct professor at Ivy Tech Community College and works at Beechcraft general aviation company. Selena Hubbard will do most of the managing of the store once it opens, she said.

“Ever since I was younger, I had discussed with my dad that we should open up a coffee shop, so that’s always been in the back of our heads. The cat part was probably (my idea)” Selena Hubbard said. “I saw that there are cat cafes in other countries, and I have loved cats my whole life.”

Customers wouldn't bring their own cats, Selena Hubbard said. Instead, she hopes to have around 10 cats available for adoption.

“It’ll be able to relieve the shelters of several cats, as well as become a popular place for people to come,” Selena Hubbard said. “I think that will help educate people about adopting rather than buying a cat from a breeder. … There are just so many cats that need homes.”

Selena Hubbard is the mother of two former shelter cats: Olive and Flapjack.

The Hubbards registered their business a year ago with the state of Indiana and started looking for potential locations. They decided on Fountain Square, partly because Selena Hubbard lives nearby. Their coffee roaster is helping get them equipment needed for the shop.

While cat cafes are popping up around the country, they're still not in every state.

Part of that is because of health concerns that come when restaurant spaces are shared with animals. Indiana law, for example, prevents animals from being in rooms where food is prepared or served, said Krista Click, director of food protection at the Indiana State Department of Health.

To accommodate that rule at Nine Lives, the cats will remain in a separate room. Customers can choose to bring food into the room without violating any health codes.

Another concern is the cost associated with opening.

Selena Hubbard said she and her dad were initially trying to purchase a building, but were unable to get any banks to loan funding. The project is self-funded, though the Hubbards are considering launching a Kickstarter campaign to raise cash to help furnish and decorate the place.

Even then, crowdsourcing isn't a guarantee. In Bloomington, another cat cafe called City Kitty and Brews failed to open after a GoFundMe page raised only $5,000, which the owners decided wasn’t enough to open in a timely manner. The company decided to shelf the project, according to its Facebook page, and return the money to donors.

Another cat cafe, a Florida location featured on the TV show "Shark Tank," raised only $330 through its Indiegogo Inc. site, despite the publicity the show brought.

The Hubbards have started building out the space and signed a five-year lease.

Call IndyStar reporter Kaitlin Lange at (317) 444-6487. Follow her on Twitter: @kaitlin_lange.