Saffron owner presents plan for Keys building

Restaurateur Su Hill hasn't yet named her downtown project, but she has a good idea what it will be like and showed off an artist's concept drawing Tuesday night to fellow Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce members at their Business After-hours gathering at Hill's Saffron restaurant.

Hill intends to revitalize the former Keys Music Store building at the corner of Broadway and Spanish streets using a "boutique hotel concept" by opening a pub-style restaurant on the first floor and renting sleeping rooms and luxury apartments on the other two floors.

"I'd like people to drive downtown and see it's a beautiful corner," she said.

Rob McClary, city inspections director, said for the most part the Keys building is structurally in "great shape, pristine" and will become another local treasure under Hill's influence.

The restaurant would be either an Irish- or English-style pub, serving several ales and a full lunch and dinner menu, including possibly Irish stew and roast beef. Hill said this part of the project could be ready by late 2004. She wants to offer a downtown gathering spot that is more tailored for adults, something different from the riverfront bar scene nightly dominated by younger crowds.

The hotel portion of the building won't open until possibly the spring of 2005, she said. There will be 14 sleeping rooms and two luxury apartments. Hill is staying in an apartment in the building now but plans to move out when the renovations begin.

The new project will have about 50 mostly part-time employees. She is working with both local banks and a New York firm in financing the new project.

mwells@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160