A local coffee shop is taking another month to decide on the future of its downtown location.
The Columbus Redevelopment Commission voted Monday to amend the lease agreement for Lucabe Coffee Co.’s downtown location to allow the business another 30 days to make a decision regarding lease renewal or termination.
The commission approved the shop’s request in December to extend its lease from March 31 to the end of June. This also pushed back the business’s deadline to give notice of renewal or termination. Co-founder and co-owner Tyler Hodge said at the time that he and his wife, Alissa, sought the extension so that they would have more time to discuss the next lease term.
“What we’re requesting here is a 30-day extension of the notification period only,” said Redevelopment Director Heather Pope at Monday’s meeting. “So their lease still expires at the end of June; however, their notification time is now the end of April, rather than the end of March. … They’re just trying to weigh all of their odds; these are crazy times.”
The couple opened a second Lucabe location in midtown Columbus this past fall. Hodge said in a previous interview that the second branch has significantly outperformed the downtown location.
A lack of Cummins, Inc. employees in downtown Columbus and the continued closure of The Commons (except as an event space) were cited as among challenges facing the coffee shop. Other factors included the return to school for students, cold weather, more convenience at the new location and fewer attractions to draw customers downtown.
While some of these obstacles remain in place, others are starting to shift. The Commons reopened its James A. Henderson Playground in early March after two years of closure due to COVID-19 and renovations. Prior to the pandemic, the indoor playground typically saw more than 100,000 visitors annually, making it a significant factor in downtown activity.
Also, Cummins has announced that it will reopen its Indiana offices on April 4, including the corporate office building in downtown Columbus — though it is unclear how many workers will be on-site once the reopening occurs.
Cummins employs about 8,000 people in the Columbus area and has several offices in downtown Columbus, including its corporate headquarters, which can accommodate around 1,000 workers.
Hodge told the commission that they’re not sure what population density to expect from Cummins reopening. He added that the shop has continued to see difficulties over the past few months.
“It definitely didn’t go the way we hoped, coming off of the new year,” said Hodge. “We’re hopeful that things will come around, but cautious.”
