Jeremy J Fugleberg

jfugleberg@argusleader.com

Coworking business The Bakery is closing May 1, after its funding fell through in the wake of a fatal downtown building collapse.

"We're going to be looking for a new tenant," said Sheila Hazard. Hazard and her husband, Jeff, own the renovated bakery building at 910 N. Main Ave.

The Bakery co-founder Clint Brown disputed news reports stating his business was closing, in a Facebook video posted Friday afternoon (scroll to the bottom for video). But he did confirm The Bakery's brick-and-mortar location is shutting down and shifting to an online and in-person format.

“One of the things we’re going to cut is the building,” he said. He said the building was expensive and troublesome to maintain and caring for it was “not what lights my fire" compared to helping entrepreneurs.

The business opened May 1, 2015. On its website, it claims to have 400 members.

Funding for The Bakery dried up after the collapse of the former Copper Lounge at the corner of W. 10th Street and Phillips Avenue in December, Hazard said. The collapse killed a construction worker.

Hultgren Construction was in charge of that building's renovation. Aaron Hultgren, the company's owner, was also involved in The Bakery, and had planned to buy out departed Bakery co-owner Brian Rand's share of the business prior to the building collapse, Hazard said.

"And that just kind of didn’t happen, and you know the dominoes fall," she said.

In his video posted to Facebook, Brown didn't directly address Hazard's comments regarding Hultgren's funding, but said he would do whatever it takes to "make things right with business."

"We will have to have some sort of garage sale and get rid of this stuff," he said. "I would rather focus our assets on serving our members."

He didn't dispute

The building's collapse will likely lead to a lot of legal fallout.

“There’s a lot that’s going to be at play in this case,” Bob Trzynka, a lawyer with the Cutler Law Firm, told the Argus Leader in December. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's investigation into the collapse is still an open case.

The Bakery was a community and co-working space, touted by its owners as a place for members to work on their big ideas and engage with others. Bakery annual memberships ranged between $300-$1,500.

Hazard said The Bakery is still amid its lease of the buildings, but its owners are helping the Hazards find a new tenant.

Brown didn't respond to an interview request Friday morning.

Contacted late Friday, Hultgren said he didn’t know anything about The Bakery going out of business, but said he thinks it is a great community organization and he’ll continue to support its mission.

"I did evaluate purchasing The Bakery sometime in the past,” he said. “The investment didn't fit my portfolio goals.”