Grocery store, restaurant planned for West Racine

Tom Tousis and his father, Gus Tousis.

When the city tore down old buildings at Washington Avenue and West Boulevard, the hope was a developer would build a grocery store or a restaurant on the site. One developer is now ready to build both.

Tom Tousis said Friday he was submitting plans to the city to build the $5 million Washington Market on the vacant lot. The development would include a specialty grocery store with wine garden, a 1950s-style diner, a bank and a gas station with a car wash. It will also preserve the West Racine farmer's market, and even provide free water and electricity for vendors on the site.

Tousis is the second developer to take a run at building at southwestern corner of Washington Ave. and West Blvd. A North Carolina-based developer sought city approval to build a $7 million, 55-unit low-income housing complex on the site. The City Council unanimously rejected the project on Feb. 3.

Hundreds of West Racine residents opposed the proposal, which would have had a difficult time getting built even with City Council approval. The low-income housing relied on state tax funds and a difficult bond market just to get money to start construction. It was also unclear if there was demand for people to live there.

Developers of the 55-unit site were criticized for publicizing their plans shortly before seeking city approval. West Racine residents said they wanted more time to review the project, and felt the developer was trying to rush it through the City Council.

Tousis is taking the opposite approach. He brought it to the residents first and now, confident that the neighborhood backs him, will seek city approval. About 120 West Racine residents have reviewed the plans and nearly all of them support the project, he said.

"I wanted to make people in the neighborhood comfortable with it," Tousis said. "I don't want to find out later that people were opposed."

Tousis added it's probably backwards to tells residents about his plans before formally introducing it to the council. But in this case, he said, it's the right way to do it.

"It's a neighborhood, not an industrial park," Tousis said. "The residents are my customers. I want to know their concerns so I can address them."

An overhead view of Tom Tousis's proposal for West Racine. Washington Ave. runs along the top of the plan. Rendering by Butterfield, Rudie & Seitz architects of Racine

County Board Supervisor and West Racine resident Van Wanggaard is backing the project, saying it will "energize" the neighborhood.

"This totally, totally makes sense," he said.

Wanggaard, who lives two blocks from the site, said the development fits with the West Racine neighborhood plan, which called for a restaurant or grocery store. He also said he was also happy Tousis was a local developer who planned to be on site running the businesses, which are already lined up to open.

"It's not some out-of-town developer building empty buildings and then filling them," Wanggaard said. "These will be built and immediately occupied."

Tousis plans to put his personal offices on the Washington Ave. site and run his local businesses, including the Better Day BP and Gus's Gyros on Douglas Ave., from West Racine. That's a big selling point, Wanggaard said.

"His family will be there everyday," Wanggaard said, adding the Tousises have an "excellent track record" in Racine.

Wanggaard said he's known Tousis's father, Gus Tousis, for 30-some years as the former owner of Andrea's, Gibson's, Athens and other local restaurants. His restaurants were always well run and never had any trouble, Wanggaard said. Many police officers ate at Andrea's in Downtown Racine because it was clos to the courthouse, he said

Wanggaard said he only recently met Tom Tousis, but was impressed with how he runs his gas station on Douglas. It's that development that Wanggaard said gives him confidence in Tousis building in West Racine.

"It's been open almost two years and it still looks brand new," Wanggaard said. "He maintains the site well."

The exterior of Tom Tousis's proposed development for West Racine.
Rendering by Butterfield, Rudie & Seitz architects of Racine

Tousis's development has unique components. Tom lights up when he talks about the restaurant, which would be called "Gus's Cafe," named after his father and long-time Racine restaurateur, Gus Tousis. Tom plans to model the 165-seat diner on the restaurants he remembers from growing up. The menu will include items like meatloaf, skirt steak, the Monte Cristo - a ham and cheese sandwich in French toast bread - and the Francheesy - a hot dog stuffed with cheese, wrapped in bacon and deep fried.

"It's not very good for you, but it tastes so good," Tousis said.

Gus's Cafe would also have a vintage soda fountain and a decor designed to take diners back in time.

"I want to do it like I remember restaurants," said Tousis, who has vivid memories of hanging out in his father's restaurant as a kid. (For those who remember Andrea's when Gus Tousis owned it, that's the feel Tom said he hopes to recreate.)

"When you bring something back, people realize they missed it," Tousis said.

View Larger Map

A map of the development site. Tousis's proposal would be built at the southwest corner
of Washington Ave. and West Blvd. Zoom in on the "A" marker for a closer view.

The grocery store will be a total of about 10,000 square feet with about 6,500 square feet in retail space on the ground floor, with additional space for storage. A second story would house Tousis's business offices.

Tousis said the "Washington Market" would be a real grocery story. It would have have its own butcher, deli and produce section. Obviously it would be smaller than a store like Pick N Save, he said (most grocery stores' parking lots are three times the size the entire vacant lot in West Racine), but it'll carry all of the basic items of a grocery store, plus specialty items like wines and cheeses. It even includes a canopied wine garden along Grove St. that will serve imported wines, Tousis said.

Gas pumps in front of the grocery store could be a sticking point with city committees, which have had problems with new gas stations in the past. But Tousis said the gas pumps serve a need in the neighborhood and create a steady stream of traffic to the site that he needs to make the development a success. The same goes for an automatic car wash, which will have three doors to minimize sound for neighbors.

Both the gas pumps and car wash may be a draw of their own. Tousis's Douglas Ave. gas station is a clean, sleek design with the world's first LED-lit canopy (designed and built by Racine's Ruud Lighting). The new gas pumps would use Ruud Lighting's second-generation LED technology, Tousis said.

The last building is a 1,000 square-foot walk-in bank with drive-thru. Tri-City Bank is already interested in the space, and Tousis said other banks have approached him, as well.

Tousis also plans to create a permanent outdoor home for the West Racine farmer's market. Plans call for 11 stalls along Washington Avenue serviced with electricity and running water. Tousis wouldn't charge for use of the site. "I just want people to be in there," he said.

When possible, Tousis sees Gus's Cafe buying ingredients from the Farmer's Market to use in that day's recipes. He envisions the whole corner working together to provide services for residents and to have each of the businesses strengthening the other. For example, there may be coupons to the restaurant for people who buy gas, or a tie-in between the grocery store and the car wash.

Parking won't be an issue on the site, Tousis said. Plans call for about 50 spots on the development and Tousis anticipates a lot of walk-up traffic to use the grocery store and restaurant. He doesn't anticipate parking spilling over into the streets or nearby parking lots.

"I don't like to use public parking," Tousis said. "A lot of small businesses in the area need that parking."

While Tousis appears to have neighborhood support, he'll now turns to the city for approval to actually build on the site. He plans to submit plans to city development soon, and that likely will trigger City Council review. The city borrowed $2 million through a tax incremental finance district to tear down old buildings and clear the lot for new development. It needs a sizable project on the site to pay back that loan.

Wanggaard said the Washington Market fits the bill. "It'll take up a nice chunk of the city's TIF," he said. "I really don't see a downside."