A new nightclub may be opening soon in Ypsi’s Kresge building

According to the folks at AnnArbor.com, there may soon be a new bar in the old Kresge building, at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Washington Street. It seems as though the owner of a bar called US-12 in Wayne has paid Karen and Eric Maurer to hold the property for 60 days, while he completes his due diligence and lines up funding. Here’s a clip from the article, which, to be quite honest, made me scratch my head a few times:

…(John) Goci said the “US-12 west” location would be similar to the one in Wayne. It is a sports bar during the day and early evening, then transforms to more of a small rock club at night.

He said the former Keystone Lounge (in the basement) would host live music, while the former J Neil’s (on the ground floor) would offer a sports bar ambiance. Goci said the bar may only serve burgers, fries, hot dogs and a few other items on a very limited menu, but several other possibilities – such as an omelet bar – are being considered. Goci added that he hopes to keep the location open 24 hours and provide wireless internet access.

(Goci’s local partner Jamie) Clippert’s family has deep roots in the city and area. In the mid 1800’s, they made their fortune in the region establishing the Clippert Brick Company, and Clippert wants to use the former Keystone to create a theme that celebrates that heritage, Goci said.

Goci, who is the treasurer for the Wayne-Westland Community Schools Board of Education, is estimating investing $100,000 to renovate and establish the new location, and the ownership configuration is still being discussed. Aside from Clippert and Goci, former J Neil’s and Keystone owner Dave Curtis, who owns the liquor license at that address, is part of the talks, Goci said.

Clippert’s “story” and the location are what got Goci involved in exploring opening another US-12. He underscored that he wouldn’t open a new location just for financial reasons.

Clippert is an active member of the American Dystonia Foundation, which causes involuntary muscle movement, and he has fallen increasingly ill in recent months. Goci said Clippert wants to leave his children and the community something when he passes on, and has shown a tremendous amount of energy in developing the project.

Clippert was most recently in discussions with Ypsilanti property owner Joe Lawrence about opening a medical marijuana dispensary in downtown Ypsilanti. Medical marijuana is used to relieve dystonia symptoms.

Goci said helping Clippert is his main motivation for getting involved with opening the bar.

“His story just really touched me, and the fact that he wants to do something to remember his family in the downstairs is great,” Goci said. “I’m not doing this as a business – I’m trying to help him, and when I help somebody it in life, it comes back to me 10-fold”…

I don’t know that I completely buy into the 24-hour nightclub with an omelet bar vision, but I totally think the city could use another downtown venue for live music, and I wish them all the best. In fact, I’m thinking about taking a road trip down Michigan Avenue to Wayne and paying US-12 a visit, in hopes of getting a sense as to what they might have in mind of Ypsi, so that I might be better prepared to help them… If anyone’s interested, I think that Wednesday might be a good day.

us12wednesday

Say what you will, I think you’ve got to admire a Board of Education employee who would host a naughty school girl night. That takes balls.

P.S. If anyone can explain it to me, I’m curious as to how Dave Curtis, who, I believe, had his properties seized for non-payment of taxes, could still own the liquor license in question. Would that not be an asset that his creditors could lay claim to?

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25 Comments

  1. Bud Wiser
    Posted March 12, 2011 at 8:07 am | Permalink

    Never would’ve guessed the Maurers tacitly encourage pedophilia. Although, Republicans are doing some very strange things lately.

  2. notoneofthecoolkids
    Posted March 12, 2011 at 8:59 am | Permalink

    I got a few nasty comments when I commented weeks ago that only trust fund babies had the cash right now to invest in downtown Ypsi ….well here is the proof as this quote is taken directly from the annarbor.com article.

    “,,,Clippert’s family (one of the partner’s) has deep roots in the city and area. In the mid 1800’s, they made their fortune in the region establishing the Clippert Brick Company…”

    If a “fortune” from 1800’s isn’t trust fund money I don’t know what is…

  3. Edward
    Posted March 12, 2011 at 10:05 am | Permalink

    Let me see if I’ve got this right. The guy who owns the bar in Wayne doesn’t really want to open a bar here, but he’s doing it because he met a guy who was unsuccessful at opening a pot store in Ypsi and was captivated by his personal quest to open something on Michigan Avenue before he died as a way of honoring his family. So together with Dave Curtis, they’re opening a 24 hour sports bar with an omelet bar. Is that about it?

  4. Posted March 12, 2011 at 1:21 pm | Permalink

    I know John Goci and he’s a good guy — uses his US-12 location for a lot of fundraisers for good causes — schools, various charities, etc. He’d be a good citizen in Ypsi.

  5. Posted March 12, 2011 at 9:46 pm | Permalink

    For the record, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with encouraging the naughty school girl look.

  6. Lodi
    Posted March 13, 2011 at 1:10 am | Permalink

    Wait. You mean encouraging school girls to look naughty? Or grown women to look like naughty school girls?

  7. Slam Jam
    Posted March 13, 2011 at 1:46 pm | Permalink

    The bars and restaurants that do the fund raisers do it for the money it brings into their establishments. They only give 10 to 20 percent back and expect the charties to pack their places. Nice way for a place to have a good profit night

  8. Ted
    Posted March 13, 2011 at 7:35 pm | Permalink

    I doubt that women would find full grown men in short pants, sucking on their thumbs to be sexy. Men are weird.

  9. Andy C
    Posted March 13, 2011 at 9:55 pm | Permalink

    Speaking of live venues, the Elbow Room finally has a website up. They’re have a few shows listed but tend to go with the “playing tonight” post on one of their three facebook pages. They seem to be slowly getting it together. The downtown definitive needs more activity. http://elbowroomypsi.com

  10. Rodale
    Posted March 14, 2011 at 3:17 am | Permalink

    The octomom likes men in daipers.

  11. Edward
    Posted March 14, 2011 at 8:00 am | Permalink

    Who wants to work with me on a business plan for an Ypsi charter school called the Naughty School Girl Academy? Not only could we tap into federal and state money, but there would be merchandise sales and other opportunities for revenue. The way I’m envisioning it, the whole school would be outfitted with video cameras so that lecherous old men could log in to watch the naughty girls for a fee.

  12. Watching Laughing.
    Posted March 14, 2011 at 8:32 am | Permalink

    About the liquor license for J’Oneils?

    I’m assuming the liquor license for the J’Oneils was seperate from Pub-13 and Savoy-1 liquor license combined, and is worth some money.
    I assume Dave Curtis paid the up front cash to get the J’Oneils seperate liquor license and wants his money back. It’s probably, $50 grandish.
    J’Oneils would have nothing to do with Pub-13 and the Savoy. They are seperate and bank isn’t involved in the real estate of J’Oneils.
    They hold the note for Pub-13/Savoy real estate.
    Just a guess.
    Watching Laughing.

  13. The 4 Browns
    Posted March 14, 2011 at 8:34 am | Permalink

    And if there were a gang rape, annarbor.com could publish a piece that blames the naughty girl, with supporting citations from the Old Testament.

  14. Kim
    Posted March 14, 2011 at 9:20 am | Permalink

    I was under the impression that the same liquor license serviced all the Curtis properties, including the one on the corner that he rented from the Maurers.

  15. Watching Laughing.
    Posted March 14, 2011 at 9:58 am | Permalink

    You probably knew, Pub-13 and Savoy were connected by an open doorway. They would be the same.
    J’Oneils is a completely seperate building seperated by the alley.
    I believe, a complete seperate liquor license?
    Either way, the Pub-13/Savoy might still be in Curtis’s hands and he may be able to sell that, seperate from the Bank holding the Real Estate note on the buildings?
    I highly doubt the state would issue 1 liquor license, to that setup of Curtis’s.

    Watching Laughing.

  16. Chaely
    Posted March 14, 2011 at 4:02 pm | Permalink

    I will say that they’ve done a good job of rehabbing the formerly dumpy US-12 into a decent bar, but I don’t think that Ypsi necessarily needs another live music venue with a burger menu. Ypsi needs something that we can get our out-of-town friends excited about seeing when they visit. It needs more places like Cafe Ollie that cater to the type of people who live here & the sorts of things that we’re into, the least of which includes more bar food.

    Don’t get me wrong, I’m no crunchy granola vegan type, but if I walk into one more restaurant in town and find the menu full of boring bar food I think my soul is going to toss itself off into the river followed by a side of onion rings.

    Can we get a massive list together of all the restaurants in Ypsi & sort them into “have burger” and “no burger” columns? I think the evidence will speak for itself.

  17. Tom
    Posted March 14, 2011 at 4:34 pm | Permalink

    yay.

  18. What's In A Name
    Posted March 14, 2011 at 10:31 pm | Permalink

    Dave had two liquor licenses: one for Club Devine/Pub 13/Best Damn Sports Bar and a separate one for J’Neils/Keystone. Per state liquor laws adjoining establishments can share a license. The alley separation required Dave to get a new license for the J’Neils/Keystone license.

    I don’t recall the exact name of the J’Neils license but it was a license that could only be used in downtown Ypsilanti so that’s why its still probably there and hasn’t been sold off. The Club Devine license was a “regular” Class C license that could be used anywhere in Washtenaw County.

  19. Heike Beallizzi
    Posted March 16, 2011 at 11:22 pm | Permalink

    And, when the child labor laws are repealed, we can have actual real naughty schoolgirls! It will be like paradise.

  20. Mr. X
    Posted June 2, 2011 at 9:29 am | Permalink

    If you hadn’t already guessed, this apparently isn’t going to happen.

    The following quote comes from an AnnArbor.com article on the status of all of Ypsi’s closed bars.

    The owner of Wayne’s US-12 Bar showed some interest in the property recently, but that deal fell through.

    So we’ll have to find new employment opportunities for our thumb-biting sexy school girls.

    http://annarbor.com/business-review/elbow-room-is-the-latest-downtown-ypsilanti-nightspot-to-close/?cmpid=NL_BR_headline

  21. Watching Laughing.
    Posted June 2, 2011 at 2:44 pm | Permalink

    I assume, Dave is toast.

    Watching Laughing.

  22. JSam
    Posted June 2, 2011 at 7:17 pm | Permalink

    Watching Laughing,
    If you are referring to Dave Curtis, he’s fine.
    Thanks for your concern.
    Life goes on.

  23. Posted June 2, 2011 at 8:07 pm | Permalink

    Is there no place for sexy schoolgirls between here and Wayne?

    And why do we have sexy schoolgirls, but not sexy babies? Why hasn’t that happened? Why don’t we have bars offering drink specials for hot chicks with rattles and bibs?

  24. Posted December 8, 2011 at 4:52 pm | Permalink

    Anyone know where he is? I know he still owes alot of people alot of money!!!

  25. Posted December 8, 2011 at 10:00 pm | Permalink

    I think he’s running a piano bar in Jackson. At least I think it’s Jackson. Where ever it is, I’ve heard it’s like Pub 13, with dueling piano shows.

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