courtesy of Studio A Architecture This rendering depicts the current restaurant with the proposed Rite-Aid in the background.

The site of the old Bauer’s Family Restaurant has stood on Brownsboro Road for generations, but it’s future has been uncertain in recent years.

Not any longer.

After two years of negotiations, the Bauer family, which has owned the property since 1868, and the residents of nearby Mockingbird Gardens have reached an agreement on a proposed redevelopment plan for the property.

A Rite-Aid is to be built on the southern portion of the property, and the existing restaurant building will become home to a new restaurant called Monterey, according to Skee Bauer, who owns the property with his father and brother.

“It should be a real asset to the neighborhood, at least that’s what our goal is,” Bauer said.

The initial plan for the property, which was presented to neighbors two years ago, called for the demolition of the restaurant to make way for a Rite-Aid. Opposition to that plan led to a public hearing in June 2008 during which the Louisville Metro Historic Landmarks and Preservation Districts Commission deemed the building a local landmark, which protected it from demolition.

“We knew there were going to be issues with whatever we decided to do there,” Bauer said.

Bauer hired Bill Northcut, a consultant with New Realty Advisors, who began working closely with Mockingbird Garden Homeowners’ Association representatives Bob DeSpain and Mike Lewis to negotiate a compromise on the development.

“We’ve come a long way in the last 10 months,” Northcut said. “We came up with a plan that was a better plan.”

That plan includes the retention and renovation of the restaurant building, a Rite-Aid with a redesigned facade placed further back on the property and a series of walls and landscaping to shield the entrance to Mockingbird Gardens.

DeSpain said the plan was presented at a meeting of about 70 residents of Mockingbird Gardens earlier this week, and residents were in “unanimous agreement” on it.

“The building had to fit what our neighborhood looks like,” DeSpain said. “It was important for us that they put a viable business in” the restaurant space.

Bauer said the interior dimensions of the 14,700-square-foot Rite-Aid haven’t changed since the first proposal, but he hired architect Vadim Kaplan, president of Studio A Architecture, to modify the facade of the Rite-Aid to make it blend with the neighborhood.

Kaplan, who also worked on Westport Village, created a varied roofline and lowered the elevation of the building to be closer to the height of the existing restaurant.

“Visually, it’s much more appealing,” Bauer said.

Kaplan also will handle the design for the renovation of the restaurant, which will include removing a modern addition to the rear of the building. The popular patio area will remain.

“It’s basically going to be a brand new building that will have every bit of the appearance of the original building” Bauer said. “Some aspects will revert back to the way it looked in the ’40s.”

Bauer said input has been sought from the neighborhood, the landmarks commission and Metro Development on the renovation.
Monterey, the restaurant to occupy the renovated building, is the endeavor of Terri Cardwell, owner of Parallel 38, 211 Clover Lane owner Andrew Smith and 211 Clover executive chef Troy Schuster.

The upscale restaurant will have a casual, family-friendly atmosphere, Cardwell said, and the menu will feature affordable dishes with influences from Northern California, Southern France and Tuscany.

Most dishes, such as pizzas and roasted fish and meats, will begin or finish in a wood-burning oven, Cardwell said. Entree prices will range from $15 to $27.

Cardwell said she and her partners saw the “need for a comfortable and attractive place where people can stop by and enjoy themselves.”

She saw the Bauer property as a perfect location.

“There would only be one location I would be involved with, and this is it,” she said.

Pending some government approvals of the plans, Bauer said he hopes to begin the construction process in March or early April with completion by the holidays. He would not comment on the total cost.

The first order of business will be adding landscaping to the parking lot in front of Doll’s Market.

“Our ears will stay open throughout the construction process,” Bauer said.

He does not plan any additional development on the land.

“This will fill it up,” he said.