i don't believe it.....FINALLY!


http://fertilegroundzine.blogspot.com/20...-rent.html

For Rent
Today, the unthinkable happened.

Jerry Carruthers decided he was sick of the Chicago Pizza Factory building sitting empty. He's got two guys gutting the inside and fixing up the outside. "We're even gonna fix the lights on the sign," the guy in the shirt told me.

Once they get a renter, they're going to fix the inside up to suit them.

It's a miracle!

I have always dreamed of a Brother Juniper's type place there. Or a great coffee shop like Cafe Eclectic. Or a kid-friendly beer garden. Or maybe even the latest incarnation of Mothersville. The possibilities are endless!

I just hope it is something cool. I was pretty disappointed to learn that Crye-Leike is moving into the old Anderton's building. At least they are leaving the facade.

I wonder if the story I heard (maybe from here) is true about that location.........That the guy got divorced years ago and the settlement called for his wife to get a hefty percentage of all proceeds of that location. Since either the guy or his ex were completely nuts the guy (Carruthers) shut the place down on the spot and would not listen to any offers to sell or rent the place out which of course meant his ex got squat!
I wonder if this means his old ex is now dead?

tigertommy Wrote:I wonder if the story I heard (maybe from here) is true about that location.........That the guy got divorced years ago and the settlement called for his wife to get a hefty percentage of all proceeds of that location. Since either the guy or his ex were completely nuts the guy (Carruthers) shut the place down on the spot and would not listen to any offers to sell or rent the place out which of course meant his ex got squat!
I wonder if this means his old ex is now dead?

That all makes sense. Carruthers owned that place when I was an underage beer drinker there in 1979- 1981. Pizza was great, but the Square was still roaring and pizza wasn't a match. Nobody was ever in there. I have long wondered why the place has sat untouched for so many years well before the Square's decline. I wonder how the hotel is doing where Solomon Alfred's used to be.

i heard the same thing about the place. i think everybody has had a dream about putting something in that building. you got to love the patio, unfortunely there no parking. Now with Bayou and Le Chardoney are across the street parking becomes scarce while the center parking lot is seldom used

-little research
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So now for something I have been curious about for some time now. I realize lots of folks have heard a plethora of rumors concerning the Chicago Pizza Factory on Madison, but I was wondering if anyone knew of anything SUBSTANTIAL or new at all. I recently heard a twist on an old rumor dealing with divorce settlements and the like but I don't know if it holds any truth. Supposedly after his divorce, the owner Jerry Carruthers, refused to sell because half of the proceeds from the sale will go to his ex-wife and he's holding out on the sale just to spite her. This doesn't seem to make much business sense, especially from a long time local business man like Carruthers (who owns the building next door that houses Maggies Pharm), but neither does letting an obviously lucrative property become neglected for ANY reason. So just curious if anyone else knows a bit more about it. I've tried getting ahold of Jerry Carruthers, but to no avail. He probably gets asked about it all the time anyway. So please share if you know anything!

Posted by Ryan at Saturday, April 14, 2007



1 comments:
Stacey Greenberg said...
I've actually sat down face to face with Mr. Carruther's and tried to get him to lease me the place. He said it was in need of a LOT of work and would be too expensive for me. (He was right.) When asked why he never rented it to anyone else he said that no one has ever wanted to open it as something he thought would make it. (He joked about a person who wanted to open a bagel shop a few years back--in the heyday of bagel shops.) He *was* willing to rent out the front bay of the Maggie's building where his office is.

Anyways, I think he's full of it.

When I talked to a young man who worked for him, he said Mr. Carruther's would never rent the place out or sell it b/c it was too good of a tax write off.

maybe times have gotten tough for carruthers & he's trying to make a little more $$ now?

i always wanted to put a San Antonio Taco Company, the little tex-mex joint near Vanderbilt in Nashville, in that space.

Without wanting to go into any details, I can tell you that Carruthers is one strange dude.

Now it's time for them to get serious about Overton Square. By the way, is it true that the French Quarter hotel is closing?

blueandgrayashley Wrote:Now it's time for them to get serious about Overton Square.

Who is "them" and are you serious? The "core" of Overton Square is almost gone. Friday's closed. The big spot on the corner has never been successful. Bayou and Le Chardonay moved across Madison. The G&G and Public Eye buidings have been razed.

It's only a matter of time before some big box retailer or grocery store is at the SW corner of Madison and Cooper. The stuff north of Madison will be fine, but the original Overton Square is soon to be gone forever.

blueandgrayashley Wrote:Now it's time for them to get serious about Overton Square. By the way, is it true that the French Quarter hotel is closing?

Yes, the French Quarter Hotel is now closed.

hopefully crosstown will get target



look like raspberry wants a grocey store in the sqaure.

TailgateTiger Wrote:look like raspberry wants a grocey store in the sqaure.

if it were a trader joe's, fresh market or whole foods, i would be more than okay with that.

considering jimmy lewis, who was going to re-open the squash blossom under the name jimmy's, is raspberry's business partner, and he backed out of doing the store at the burke's location because of a possible new grocery store coming to midtown, i think you can count on something like that happening.

personally, i think it's a good thing for french quarter to close - that place was getting shadier & shadier by the minute. and now that the bayou & le chardonnay are across the street, they can start working on the older parts of that building and make it more attractive for leasees to come in. as it was, bayou & le chardonnay were just praying for the place not to cave in on them.

tigergreen Wrote:

TailgateTiger Wrote:look like raspberry wants a grocey store in the sqaure.

if it were a trader joe's, fresh market or whole foods, i would be more than okay with that.

considering jimmy lewis, who was going to re-open the squash blossom under the name jimmy's, is raspberry's business partner, and he backed out of doing the store at the burke's location because of a possible new grocery store coming to midtown, i think you can count on something like that happening.

personally, i think it's a good thing for french quarter to close - that place was getting shadier & shadier by the minute. and now that the bayou & le chardonnay are across the street, they can start working on the older parts of that building and make it more attractive for leasees to come in. as it was, bayou & le chardonnay were just praying for the place not to cave in on them.

I'll be shocked if the Friday's, Le Chardonnay, Bayou, Palm Court buildings are still here two years from now. I bet the end up razing those two buildings.

lewis and raspberry appeared to break, only seeing raspberry signs now.

3601 Wrote:

tigergreen Wrote:

TailgateTiger Wrote:look like raspberry wants a grocey store in the sqaure.

if it were a trader joe's, fresh market or whole foods, i would be more than okay with that.

considering jimmy lewis, who was going to re-open the squash blossom under the name jimmy's, is raspberry's business partner, and he backed out of doing the store at the burke's location because of a possible new grocery store coming to midtown, i think you can count on something like that happening.

personally, i think it's a good thing for french quarter to close - that place was getting shadier & shadier by the minute. and now that the bayou & le chardonnay are across the street, they can start working on the older parts of that building and make it more attractive for leasees to come in. as it was, bayou & le chardonnay were just praying for the place not to cave in on them.

I'll be shocked if the Friday's, Le Chardonnay, Bayou, Palm Court buildings are still here two years from now. I bet the end up razing those two buildings.

i will too...it's a shame, but those buildings (esp. palm court - friday's, maybe not so much) are in such bad shape, i don't know how else they could fix it.