The owner of a North Loop bottle shop plans to open an event venue next door.
Jason Vogel got City Council approval on Thursday for a rental hall license at 702 1/2 First St. N in the Itasca Lofts condo building, where he plans to operate Itasca Event Gallery. He opened Underground Leaf & Vine at 706 First St. N in the same building a year ago.
Itasca Event Gallery will occupy 2,800 square feet and accommodate as many as 100 people, according to an inspector report. The venue will be available to rent for weddings, corporate gatherings, graduation and retirement parties, and other private events.
Vogel said Underground Leaf & Vine is doing “amazing” and getting lots of community support during a public hearing on April 30. Two Itasca Lofts residents voiced their support of Itasca Event Gallery at the hearing and others sent letters of support to the City.
Condo resident Andrew Morse said there’s a need for small, affordable meeting space in the North Loop. He’s also on the boards for the Itasca Lofts and the North Loop Neighborhood Association.
Only one resident who lives above Itasca Event Gallery’s space submitted a public comment opposing the rental hall license. City inspector Max Cervantes told the Business, Housing & Zoning Committee during an April 30 meeting, when the public hearing was held for the proposed event venue, that the resident spoke to Vogel and had concerns over noise and livability addressed to the resident’s satisfaction.
Vogel and his wife, Stacey, recently moved to the North Loop from San Diego, the North Loop Neighborhood Association reported when the bottle shop was getting ready to open.
Acme Comedy Co. and In the Loop Coffee Co. are also on the ground floor of the Itasca Lofts.