MINNEAPOLIS - In a neighborhood just off the U of M where virtually everything has changed, there remains but one landmark - Stub & Herb's, which first opened in Stadium Village in 1939.
"Takes you back in time," said Mike Pionk, who attended the U from 1971-1973, and is sad the bar's years may be numbered.
"The university will be a lesser place. These places are hard to come by. Landmarks," Pionk said.
The University of Minnesota Foundation just bought the parcel that includes Stub's and Jimmy Johns. It also recently bought the strip mall on Washington Avenue that includes Burger King.
All told, the foundation now owns 15 acres of land in the neighborhood just east of campus by TCF Bank Stadium.
And they plan to develop it into a vibrant neighborhood called "Motley" that bridges the university to the broader community.
"We don't need to own everything. But we now think we own the parcels that are strategic to making something over time happen," said Sarah Harris, the managing director of the U of M Foundation Real Estate Advisors.
Those in charge of the project are being very vague about what the new development will include. They say it could be a mix of just about everything.
"A mix of housing, office, hotels, a place where people can come and stay," listed Brandon Champeau, executive director of Visus Group, which is partnering with the University Foundation to plan the development.
Champeau adds that restaurants and entertainment options will also be included.
Before designing renderings, the planners will ask community groups what they want with the development.
They hope for a master plan within six months, construction to start next summer, and to be standing in the first completed building by 2021.
As for Stub and Herbs, the bar still might be included in those future plans.
"That would be a good idea. You need some of that to make it the University of Minnesota," Pionk said.
The owner of Stub and Herbs said he signed a seven-year lease with the University Foundation.