Jolly Pumpkin’s Offerings Could Be Expanded Downtown with Addition of Mash Bar
East Lansing’s City Council will soon make a decision about whether to grant approval for a site plan and Special Use Permit (SUP) for a new downtown establishment, Mash Bar, next to Jolly Pumpkin. The same operators would manage both restaurant/bars and the two spaces would be joined internally through open doorways and hallways.
The company seeking the approvals, BL Mash East Lansing, LLC, said in its written application that Mash Bar “could complement the growing young professional population and local residents in the East Lansing and Greater Lansing Area.” Compared to local college bars, the application says, “Mash will have a moodier, more ambient setting with craft cocktails, beer, food menu and live music.”
Jolly Pumpkin opened in late 2020 at 218 Albert Ave., in the north-side retail space of the Center City District project under the new municipal parking garage. Since that time, the retail space immediately to its west, at 212 Albert Ave., has remained vacant.
If constructed as planned, Mash Bar will be located in that space, occupying about 4,800 square feet, including space on the ground floor and in a mezzanine seating area. Openings would be created in the wall that currently separates the space from Jolly Pumpkin so patrons and servers can easily move from Jolly Pumpkin to Mash on the ground and mezzanine levels.
Mash representative Jon Carlson told the DDA that the current owners of the building (which sits on land leased from the city) approached his team and asked them to consider leasing the vacant space. After some consideration, the Mash team decided to go for it.
Before Council can make its decision, the East Lansing Planning Commission and the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) need to weigh in with recommendations.
On Wednesday, April 26, the Planning Commission held a public hearing on the matter, at which no one came to speak except Carlson. The Planning Commission is likely to decide on its recommendation to Council on May 10.
On Thursday, April 27, after hearing details of the plan from Carlson, the DDA voted unanimously to recommend the application to Council.
Carlson told the DDA that Northern United Brewing Company, LLC, is the current leaseholder for the Jolly Pumpkin space but that his company actually operates Jolly Pumpkin and Mash locations, including in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. If the plan goes through, his company will be the tenant for both spaces in East Lansing and operate both establishments.
Jolly Pumpkin currently operates under a more restrictive type of liquor license than the Class C license the management has now acquired for Jolly Pumpkin and Mash in East Lansing. The new liquor license, already obtained from the state, will allow Jolly Pumpkin and Mash to serve all types of liquor.
“The current Jolly Pumpkin restaurant management team will remain in place,” BL Mash’s application to the City said, “and there are no changes anticipated to the menu, service format, or restaurant/cafe business model. But with the benefit of a Class C [liquor] license…the restaurant can also include an upscale spirits bar called Mash as part of the Jolly Pumpkin bistro experience.”
But, Carlson emphasized repeatedly at Planning Commission and the DDA, the goal is not another college bar.
Carlson told the DDA Mash is “a little bit more upscale and high-end. That doesn’t mean it’s better than anyone else around.”
“There are some amazing college bars here,” Carlson said, “and that’s not really our niche.”
Carlson told the Planning Commission that Mash is meant to attract adults ranging in age from graduate students on up. Carlson said his company also likes to provide large spaces that work well for private parties.
Responding to questions from DDA member Robert Aydukovic, Carlson said he expects Mash will add about 15 jobs downtown and the build-out to cost between $500,000 and $600,000.
Some confusion remains about exactly how many people would be permitted to occupy the two combined spaces, including the outdoor space. The application indicates an addition of 160 seats through the addition of Mash Bar. City staff have said they’re still working with the applicants and the building and fire departments to figure out the occupancy limit.
Parking would be available in the city’s lots, as East Lansing’s current zoning laws say that downtown commercial businesses are required to use the city’s system unless they obtain special permission to build their own parking. (The goal of that zoning regulation is to see higher usage of the city’s underutilized lots.)
City Planning staff are asked, as a standard measure, to advise Planning Commission on whether the proposed establishment will “cause or continue an undue concentration of similar uses in the neighborhood such that liquor and trade become a dominant influence or feature of the district or neighborhood.”
The staff’s memo responds to this requirement by stating, “The request, if approved, would
enable a restaurant use with alcohol. There is a mix of uses both within the existing
building, and within a 1000’ radius. Therefore, there is not a concentration of similar uses.”
Presenting the plan to the Planning Commission, Associate Planner Taylor Van Winkle said the plan calls for outdoor seating. But it would be closed by midnight and there would be no audible music beyond the property line, as required by local regulation.
Planning Commissioner Ed Wagner asked Carlson to elaborate on the plan for entertainment. Carlson responded he expects trivia nights and large music, but not large bands. He said there might be two or three musicians playing at a time, generally acoustic, but that there will also be DJ’s on occasion.
“We have music, but that is not our focus,” he told the Commission. “It’s a small stage area.”
Planning Commission Chair Joseph Sullivan asked if there will be TVs. Carlson responded there will indeed.
Carlson told the DDA the hope is to open Mash by fall, but construction delays may make that goal challenging.