Donut and Coffee Shop to Fill West End Vacancy

The coming of Dunkin’ Donuts to the West End may still be in doubt, but the neighborhood’s main road will likely see a new mom-and-pop establishment where locals can sink their teeth into some jelly-filled dough and sip some java.

The Bronxville-based Urban USA Real Estate applied to have off-street parking requirements waived for a proposed donut and coffee shop at 891 W. Beech Street, a 630-square-foot former attorney’s office between Wyoming Avenue and Alabama Street. On Tuesday, Denis Ziman, Urban USA’s CEO, said the shop could open its doors for business in about six weeks, pending the City Council’s vote on the application April 3.

A longtime Long Beach businessman will open the doughnut-coffee shop, said Ziman, who will lease it at $1,750 per month including taxes but excluding utilities.

“What we’re doing there is creating jobs in the area,” Ziman said. “I think when you remove an office with one lawyer in it and you put in a donut and coffee shop, you’re creating jobs for two shifts from 8 a.m to 8 or 9 p.m. for potentially two or three people.”

An adjoining 630-square-foot vacancy at the building was recently filled by the existing business there, the woman’s boutique Rose & Eye. The City Council on Feb. 21 granted the business an application to expand into the empty space formerly occupied by Top Hat barbershop. But instead of expanding, Rose & Eye owners Mike Muratore and Stefano Malluzzo decided to vacate their corner unit, at Wyoming Ave., and shift that space into the newly modernized unit.   

“It’s pretty much the same size but a little bit bigger and more open,” Muratore said about his restructured boutique. “I figured we were here five years and it was time we did a little redo anyway.”

Meanwhile, Ziman said he has applied for a variance at the 1,390 square-foot corner unit that he expects to lease for $4,200. He said numerous businesses are interested in the vacancy, including a sandwich-serving eatery. “We haven’t agreed with anyone yet, but we are in negotiations with different parties,” he added.

Also this spring Urban USA will modernize the building’s exterior with a new façade and a canopy to block the afternoon sun.