On Corydon Avenue, $2.7 million can buy you several lifetimes worth of lattés -- or the café that kickstarted the revitalization of Little Italy.
Bar Italia, the coffee shop-turned-club that precipitated a proliferation of patios on Corydon Avenue, has been placed up for sale by owners who've grown weary of slinging caffeine and alcohol after 27 years.
Owner Tony Foderaro and his family previously turned down numerous purchase offers but are now ready to retire from the beverage business, manager Rhea Armstrong said.
"It was a hard decision, but the family is getting tired. They need to relax," said Armstrong, who's been on the Bar Italia payroll for 24 years. "It will be difficult to leave. It's like losing somebody you love. I have some customers who've been coming here even before I started."
As the epicentre of a nascent café culture on the east end of Corydon Avenue, Bar Italia helped transform what used to be an ordinary commercial strip into the most popular patio district in the city.
Beginning life as a coffee shop and laundromat in the 1980s, it dropped washers and dryers in favour of a lounge in the '90s before undergoing a final renovation in 2006 that allows it to function as a de facto nightclub. Technically, the establishment is a restaurant, as efforts to obtain a cabaret licence have been denied.
"Bar Italia is an icon. It's the first place on Corydon that became a real hangout. It really helped build things up," said Aaron Smith, a B.I. regular who used to be a bartender in the lounge. "They started it off, and everyone came later."
The shops and restaurants that have appeared on the Corydon strip over the past two decades have increased the allure of properties on surrounding residential streets. But the development has also sparked complaints from homeowners annoyed by increased noise and traffic, as well as rowdy club-goers.
This has resulted in conflicts between residents and would-be developers when new Corydon-strip liquor-licence applications appear or alcohol-related zoning variances wind up at city hall.
Smith conceded the neighbourhood has become rougher in recent years as a result of club-goers. But he said Corydon could still use a few more quality restaurant-bars and remains "a great place to take your family and get a gelati."
Armstrong plans to continue working on Corydon Avenue, as she's currently in the process of opening up a new bistro inside a former pharmacy several blocks to the west.
But for now, she said, it's business as usual at Bar Italia, which has been up for sale for less than a week. Both the 5,000-square-foot structure at Cockburn Street and the restaurant/lounge within are listed at $2.7 million by commercial realtor Shindico.
According to City of Winnipeg records, the one-storey building was assessed at $218,000 until 2005, when it was re-assessed at $518,000.
But fatigue -- not the property tax burden -- is driving the sale, said day manager Dom Foderaro.
"After 27 years, you get tired," he said.
bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca
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