TRAVERSE CITY -- Springtime is moving time in downtown Traverse City, and several businesses will open new storefronts or shift to different locations to gear up for tourism season.
Downtown property owners said the jockeying for retail slots is off to an early start this year, as tenants bargain for the best deals in a tough economy and landlords troll for takers amid a soft commercial property market.
"It's sort of like our version of musical chairs," said Terry Beia, a partner in Traverse City Development LLC, a group that owns more than a half-dozen downtown properties. "Some merchants are upsizing, some are downsizing and some aren't making it."
Several new restaurants plan to open this spring and summer. Brothers Matt and Mark Davies will expand their local lineup with Union Cantina. They're pouring around $500,000 into a two-story former print shop at 127 S. Union St. for a southwest and "Tex-mex" restaurant to open in April.
Their other local eateries include Peninsula Grill on Old Mission and Western Avenue Grill in Glen Arbor.
"I think it's a good fit for downtown," said Matt Davies, who plans to offer dishes ranging from under $10 to high-end steak and seafood. "If you want to come in and eat for eight bucks, you can eat for eight bucks."
Soul food will be another option for downtown diners. Matt Hunter will open "The Soul Hole" at 408 S. Union St. around April 1. It will be a take-out lunch and sit-down dinner spot in Old Town.
"I'm excited," Hunter said. "Not just for what we're doing but for a lot of things going on downtown."
The S'wich Deli is a new sandwich shop going into the Regatta Building at 415 Cass St. at the intersection with Eighth Street near the Old Town Playhouse. The business is owned by Rick and Marykate Rieck and should open sometime in April, building owner John Socks said.
Other plans are still in the works. Owners of Asian-themed Fusion restaurant in Frankfort are looking for a downtown site. One possibility is the former El Dorado restaurant location at 149 E. Front St. But spokesperson Marsha Stratton said another location also is under consideration and that no lease has been signed. A mid- to late-summer opening is projected, she said.
Other changes downtown include:
-- Posh -- a house of style, a women's apparel shop, moved from Cass Street to 120 E. Front St., where it will share space with Ashmun Portrait Art. which relocated from across the street.
-- Bon Fitte, a women's undergarment boutique, shifted a block west to 123 E. Front St.
-- ArtisanDesign Network, a new gallery featuring pieces from a cooperative of area artists and craftsmen, is open at 118 E. Front St. in the former home of Stewart-Zacks.
