After 30 years of serving up breakfast and burgers, the Grandview Grill at the corner of Grand and Fairview avenues permanently closed in March 2020, victim to the pandemic, with owners choosing not to renew their lease that December.

David Abbott, whose family owns the street corner property, runs the Abbott Paint and Carpet home decorating supply store next door with his three brothers. Their father founded the business 81 years ago.

Abbott, who said he’s “getting up there in age” himself, has no plans of closing shop, but he’s open to having a developer buy the former Grandview Grill site, if not the entire three-parcel property.

He’s curious if someone might come along to develop multi-family housing on several floors, anchoring a new development by situating Abbott Paint and Carpet and other retailers on the ground level.

The same approach has worked elsewhere on Grand Avenue, such as the Kenton House off St. Albans Avenue, where housing was developed over the site of Dixie’s on Grand, Fuji-Ya and Emmett’s Public House. Two of the restaurants returned as anchor tenants, and new retail followed.

Nearby at Victoria Street and Grand, a St. Paul developer has plans to replace the former Billy’s on Grand restaurant and Victoria Crossing East Mall with housing over retail. Juut Salon Spa is expected to return at ground level.

“We wanted to see what interest there is in the corner,” said Abbott, who listed the Grand and Fairview site a few weeks ago as available for redevelopment. “We’ll look at anything that makes sense. But at this point, we still want Abbott Paint and Carpet to keep going.”

The home decor supply shop technically occupies two retail buildings on Grand Avenue, which is considered the city’s busiest retail corridor. A CVS pharmacy, the Grandview Theater and a Wells Fargo bank all operate in close proximity.

Mike Salmen, a broker with Transwestern, said there is no asking price listed, but the redevelopment opportunity has generated “quite a bit of interest,” with multiple developers asking about potentially acquiring all three retail buildings instead of just the long-vacant restaurant space.

“I think Abbott is open to ideas at this point, and really looking at the future of that corner, and not really making firm plans,” Salmen said.

Whatever happens, Abbott said he’d like to see the shop that has become his family legacy remain in St. Paul.

“That’s my hope and prayer,” he said. “We grew up in it.”

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