The Gelateria on South Grand will return. Since a fire forced the cafe to close last March, Andy and Amanda Fair have been working–steadily–on plans to bring it back.
But, as they were in the process of securing historic tax credits and getting their affairs in order to begin the rebuild, they found out the federal agency backing their “monster” loan, the Small Business Administration, needs a lot more money up front. Midway through the process, earlier this year, Andy says they found out the SBA wants them to put 15 percent of their $2.4 million loan down instead of 10 percent, a lower rate the SBA grants to businesses that have operated for more than two years.
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The local SBA office told SLM in an email Wednesday that privacy regulations prevented it from discussing specific applications, but said applications are evaluated through a process that goes through “centralized underwriting centers” but not local offices. They added that the office is dedicated to helping local businesses and would be able to meet with the Gelateria to discuss next steps.
The Gelateria has been open since 2008, and under the Fairs’ control since 2022, factors they thought would count towards being classified as a continually-operating business qualified for the lower rate, instead of a “startup.”
But the reclassification means finding an extra $120,000, Andy says. Any additional money than the 10 percent they budgeted for will eat into the cash they need to run the business. Moreover, they don’t have that kind of money set aside. “It puts us in a worse position to have to try to come up with this extra five percent, which we don’t have,” he says.
Still, Andy stressed that they were committed to this city, and keeping the Gelateria on South Grand.
“Initially, my first thoughts while the fire department was still there, was like, ‘how are we gonna bring this back,’” Andy says. “Throughout this whole period, there were times when I definitely thought about giving up. It would have been easier, that’s for sure. … I think if I had given up, I think I would always regret it.”
As they’ve gone through the process of planning the future of the Gelateria, Andy says they’ve made some changes to the concept. The cafe will extend into the now-closed Orpheum Cleaners space, and they will eliminate the portion upstairs, a change motivated by fire code requirements that make a two-story business more expensive, he says. Also, they planned before the fire on an “all-day cafe idea” with pizzas made in-house, which they plan to double-down on when reopening.
He told SLM that, until the successful GoFundMe campaign last year, he didn’t fully grasp the extent of community support the Gelateria had. With reluctance, they’ve raised the cap on that GoFundMe, to help raise the money for the extra money they now, apparently, need.
