RICHMOND, Va. — A rundown property on West Grace Street in the heart of VCU is back in the hands of a local family of restaurateurs.
Crossroads Development manager Scott Coleman, along with the Dikos and Giavos family, on Monday completed their purchase of 939 W. Grace St, formerly home to the Village Café and other restaurants over the years.
Coleman said plans call for using historic tax credits to install a first-floor restaurant in the three-story building with three apartments above.
The sales price was $675,000, according to Tom Rosman, who with fellow One South Commercial broker Ryan Rilee and Fred Larmore of Re/Max Commonwealth had the property listed at $595,000.
The seller of 939 W. Grace St. was the estate of Mary Mirakian, Rosman said. The property’s upper floors were Mirakian’s longtime home before her recent death and had been in the family for over 100 years, Rosman said.
The Village Café was the last in a long line of restaurants to operate at 939 W. Grace St., according to the Times-Dispatch. The property housed Paul’s Restaurant from 1927 to 1950 before the Dikos Family opened the Village there in 1958. “Café” was added to the restaurant’s name in 1981 when it changed hands again.
Stella Dikos and her husband, Stavros, opened the original Village Café in the building in 1956 St. The restaurant moved to its current spot across the street in the late 80s and the commercial space at 939 W. Grace St. has been vacant ever since.
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