Familiar College Avenue site gets new life

William Deeb is smiling somewhere. The College Avenue building that housed his women’s hat shop for 40 years, and in recent years was home to two restaurants, is getting a total makeover.

The building at 222-224 E. College Avenue, now dubbed College Station, is getting a facelift by its new owners, the Southern Strategy Group, a lobbying firm. Two eateries, a restaurant/bar and a noodle bar, will occupy the street level. The second floor will become leased office space and a three-bedroom apartment, which will be used by out-of-town members of the Southern Strategy Group.

Scaffolding went up and construction began last week. The project, which will include second-floor balconies over the street, is expected to be completed by August.

Southern Strategy Group has 25 lobbyists, with offices in Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando, Miami and Tallahassee. It lobbies for a range of clients from Disney World and the Florida Sheriffs Association to numerous health care organizations.

“The partners really love downtown Tallahassee and think it’s a unique place,” said Chris Dudley, the group’s managing partner. “The opportunity to own something in downtown Tallahassee doesn’t come often. So when the space opened up, we were excited. It’s a unique opportunity to reshape downtown.”

Deeb constructed the building in 1966, as he and his sister downsized their family’s 1905-founded department store on East Jefferson Street into a women’s hat shop at 222 E. College Ave. Deeb rented the bigger portion of the building (224 E. College Ave.), before selling it in 1986. Deeb closed his hat shop in 2006 and died in 2009. From 1994 to January 2014, the other half of the building housed Po Boy’s restaurant, a popular Cajun restaurant and watering hole.

Last September, Southern Strategy Group bought the vacant building for $950,000 and leased the ground floor to Tucker Duke’s Lunchbox, a regional restaurant chain. The plan was to eventually remodel the second floor, using income from the restaurant lease. In February, following a fire in the restaurant, Tucker Duke’s closed — and accelerated Southern Strategy’s remodeling plans.

“Our intention was to have Tucker Duke’s operate there building a cash flow, then build upstairs at nights and weekends,” Dudley said. “When the restaurant closed, we took the financial hit and shut everything down (to begin the remodeling).”

The ground floor is leased to Roger Unger, owner of downtown’s Jasmine Cafe and the Sidecar Gastrobar in Market Square. Unger will open a second Gastrobar in the old Po Boy’s side and an Asian noodle bar in Deeb’s former space. The gastrobar will feature American cuisine, a wide selection of draft beers and speciality cocktails. The noodle bar will feature flavors from Thailand, China, Japan and Vietnam.

Dudley said the remodeling will cost nearly $1 million, which includes a $50,000 “facade improvement” grant from the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency.

Jay Revell, executive director of the Downtown Improvement Authority, hailed College Station as a great addition to downtown.

“We always love to see new buildings coming out of the ground. But anytime you can take an asset that has been stale and inject new life into it, it’s a great opportunity to show people what is possible downtown,” Revell said. “This is a perfect example of how you can take some urban fabric and reinvent it.”