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Sushi bar not opening this month as planned, no date projected

By David Veselenak on January 13, 2010 6:15 am in Metro / 10 comments

 

Midori Sushi and Martini Bar will not open this month as originally scheduled.

Jon Joslin, co-owner of the bar and a Mount Pleasant City Commissioner, could not give a projected date of when the restaurant would open. He said an application for $42,750 in state grant money the city filed for last week has delayed the opening process.

“A lot of it depends on how many hoops we have to jump through for the grant,” he said.

City commissioners approved the grant application for Midori, 105 W. Broadway St., during a meeting Jan. 4. The application is for funds from the Michigan Development Economic Corporation and would go toward exterior renovations to the restaurant, including brick cleaning, window replacement, doors and trim, replacement of cornice and part of a new sign.

Construction is slated to begin in February and end in March if the restaurant receives funding, according to the application.

The city should receive a response regarding the application by the end of January, said Downtown Development Director Michelle Sponseller.

City Manager Kathie Grinzinger said officials looked to receive grant money after the Community Development Block Grant Facade Improvement Grant decided to open up funding to rebuild downtown centers. Midori is the first business prepared for construction the city found eligible to receive grant money, she said.

According to the application, Joslin and co-owner Rich Swindlehurst would provide at least $102,750 in the project, as well as hire at least six full-time employees — with at least 51 percent of them coming from low-to-moderate income levels — and post positions through Michigan Works.

The city approved a Class C liquor license to the restaurant in August, filling the last unassigned liquor license for the city as determined by the 2000 U.S. Census.

Andrea Miller, communications representative for the Michigan Liquor Control Commission, said the license is still pending. She said the Commission completed its investigation and only requires a local law enforcement investigation.

“Mount Pleasant Police will do their own investigation,” she said.

Dave Sabuda, public information officer for the Mount Pleasant Police Department, said the department will conduct an investigation, but could not comment further.

“I do know we do a background investigation,” he said. “I believe the final decision goes to the Liquor Control Commission.”

 

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  • Virginia

    Who the heck wants yet another bar in town? Seriously, it seems like there are enough of those.

  • Jillian

    Our states in trouble and these douche bags are waiting for money when they are well off anyways. I am sure it will be a success like Cheers LOL what a bunch of wankers

  • SFW

    I am sure it will be just a place where all the drunk local lawyers and typical Mt.P persons that think they are better. It will be far to expensive that people will just opt to go to the Brass Cafe to get a real meal. Come on most of the people in this town have food stamps and I doubt it will be a business venture. Swindleherst is dripping with money and find it very tight wadish that they cannot fund the renovations. Some people need help like the young couple that opened up the Italian place but I doubt they had their hand out like these pretentious types. I hope it does bad too.

  • SFW

    Meant to say I doubt it will be a good business venture

  • Franklin

    As someone who has worked for the Swindlehursts in the past, I hope and expect this place to fail miserably.

    They do everything half-hearted just to try and save a buck.

    At least they put a lot of though into the name Midori, and by thought, I mean they saw the name on a liquor bottle and thought that would be cool for their sushi bar.

    I’m surprised they haven’t changed the name of Cheers to Budweiser or the Blue Gator to Miller Lite.

  • Jordan ’09

    So, If I understand this correctly, everyone who has posted replies to this article is against an upscale development in Mount Pleasant that would help increase enrollment of students with a financially well off families?

    As a graduate that was raised in a “rich” area by “rich” parents and attended a “rich” high school, I can tell you that establishments like the bird and the Blackstone simply did not appeal to me. It wasn’t because I was too “rich” for these establishments; I just preferred something different. I knew many other students who felt the same way, and a large amount ended up transferring back to the Metro Detroit area or to other schools because of the lack of restaurants, clubs, and other recreational areas. It is ignorant to believe that someone attends Central Michigan University simply because of their high academic reputation. Many students in Mount Pleasant like to study hard and party harder, and that makes CMU an excellent fit and an excellent start in life. We should embrace any project that adds activity to Mount Pleasant.

    All Rich and Jon are trying to accomplish is to bring a bit of class to an area that is in desperate need of it. If we are in a state of extremely high economic spending as a country, I feel this is a far better use of taxpayer money than most pork projects funded by the recovery act.

    If this establishment helps boost enrollment, then it is money well spent. Anyone hoping for the failure of this project is doing a disservice to Mount Pleasant, Central Michigan University, and themselves.

  • CMUAlum

    Hmmmmm, Doesnt the City Commisioner own that building? Or is it the Mayor? This is the definition of a Boss Hog action, juss some good ol’ boys.

    Didnt that same spot get turned down for a liqour lisc just a couple years ago to the previous owner? Really, the LCC is going to let this guy have a 4th lisc (Brass Saloon, Cheers, Pub), after all the PUB violations and just a few years back his horrible management helped lead to a student getting killed?

    I find it shady, like most things SWINDELhurst has done in Mt P.

    Im sure that by low income Michigan Works employees, he is going to find some MMCC students who live at home in Remus, not actual people trying to provide for a family. So he has to hire 3 full time employees to fill a 43K grant, that he would have to hire anyway.

    THIS GUY IS, ALWAYS HAS BEEN, AND ALWAYS WILL BE A JOKE.

    MT P, you voted the other 2 in, how else have they helped your city?

  • Steve Thompson

    Jordan09 thinks that a sushi and martini bar will sway potential students to drop $20K per year to attend CMU as opposed to another university??!! Are you kidding???!!! I can see the dialog between some potential student and his parents or high school advisor: “Yeah, like I was gonna attend Harvard or Michigan but then I went to this like really cool bar in MP. I was like, this is totally better than Boston or Ann Arbor and like, the academics don’t really matter, cause like, there is this really cool sushi bar, and stuff.”
    I agree that a nice place would add to Mt. Pleasant but for an established business man to partner up with a city commissioner and scam some grant money is pretty shady!
    Why didn’t the former restaurant owner at the exact same location get a liquor license from the city commission? Oh yeah, he was not partnered up with two commissioners (one is the owner of the building), how silly of me!

  • Chelle

    THANK YOUUU JORDAN…After the Embers closed, the only nice place to eat is Mountain Town, maybe Coco Joes. Im almost embarassed when my parents come to visit.

    Any news about Midori opening?

  • Jordan ’09

    Steve,

    You obviously misunderstood my point. One bar is not enough to make someone want to go to a university, but it will help to enhance nightlife and recreation in Mount Pleasant which is a deciding factor in attending a university.

    And I don’t know what fantasy world you are living in, but I’ve never met a single person who had their top 3 university choices as Michigan, Harvard, and CMU.

    I appriciate your take on this situation though.

    Jordan