Broad Ripple landmark has new owner

A landmark building in the heart of Broad Ripple has a new owner that’s seeking tenants for the historic brick structure.

Monon Housing Partners LLC bought what’s known as Mustard Hall near the southeast corner of Broad Ripple and Guilford avenues.

Mustard Hall has been a Masonic Lodge and nightclub in previous incarnations. Its new owner is looking for entertainment and office tenants. (IBJ Photo)

Built around 1920, the 12,000-square-foot building at 6235 Guilford Ave. originally housed a Masonic Lodge and later a bank. The building, which in recent years housed the Tru nightclub, has been vacant since the departure of Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar last year.

Monon Housing Partners closed on the sale April 15. It paid a total of $1.35 million for it and a residence directly to the south that has been converted to commercial use. It last housed a hair salon.

Jason Challand, president of Echelon Realty Advisors, represented the seller in the transaction.

Connecticut-based Consolidated Wings Investment LLC, which in 2011 bought 16 Buffalo Wild Wings restaurants in central Indiana, had owned both buildings. It relocated the Broad Ripple restaurant to an outlot of Glendale Mall at 62nd and Rural streets.  

Monon Housing CEO Kyle D. Bach envisions an entertainment venue on the first floor with office space above.

“With such a beautiful historic structure, I think it’s important to keep a use that’s conducive to that area that can be profitable,” he said.

A few possible tenants have shown interest, said Bach, whose firm plans to spend a total of about $250,000 to renovate both properties.

Bach and Rob Martinson operate three companies from 911 Main St., just a few blocks north of Mustard Hall. Besides Monon Housing, they own Mecca Cos., a real estate development firm, and Annex Student Living, a student housing developer.

“I think it’s a great building with a great history,” Broad Ripple real estate broker Bryan Chandler said. “Its location is right in the middle of things but also slightly removed from all the activity on the Avenue. It’s got all sorts of potential.”

A couple of other developers in Broad Ripple, Drew Loftus and Kyle Robinson, took a look at the building but passed despite their fondness for it.

“I think it’s a very unique historic building,” Loftus said. “Certainly what we’ve seen is that office is in demand [in Broad Ripple] and does well.”

The property caught the attention of Broad Ripple leaders as well.

In 2011, the building appeared on a list of 60 properties compiled by the Committee for Historic Broad Ripple, a part of the Broad Ripple Village Association that raises money for preservation efforts.

Those efforts include nominating buildings for the National Register of Historic Places. The committee began seeking donations three years ago for its Historic Broad Ripple Fund, which will pay for National Register nominations, informational brochures about historic Broad Ripple buildings and plaques to affix to structures that are added to the National Register.

Mustard Hall isn’t the only real estate acquisition Monon Housing has made in Broad Ripple lately. It also bought a three-unit residential building, for $350,000, at the southwest corner of Main and Guilford.

Bach and Martinson are considering converting it to a commercial use.