Juleps restaurant moving downtown

Juleps New Southern Cuisine is leaving Shockoe Bottom and moving to East Grace Street downtown.

Owner Amy Ayers said Thursday night before the restaurants 11th anniversary celebration that the restaurant will move to the former Shields Shoes store at 420 E. Grace St.

She hopes to finish construction on the building by the end of 2014 and open Juleps in its new location by March 1. The restaurant will remain open at its current location until the move.

Were going from one historic building to another, Ayers said.

Ayers bought the three-story Shields building with Tom Dickey and Chris Johnson, principals of The Monument Companies. The first floor will hold the 128-seat restaurant, up from 74 seats in the current location. Eight apartments will be built on the second and third floors.

Ayers will remain sole owner of Juleps, which will rent the space from the three-person partnership. The Monument Companies will handle construction.

The partnership 420 E Grace Richmond LLC bought the property for $630,000, according to the commercial real estate firm CBRE|Richmond, whose agents represented the seller and the buyer.

Juleps will be next door to Pasture, which has served Southern-focused food since chef-owner Jason Alley and co-owners Michele Jones and Ry Marchant opened the restaurant in 2011.

Like Juleps new digs, a storefront that once catered to downtown shoppers houses Pasture. The restaurant is the former home of the high-end womens clothier Montaldos.

When she was fresh out of college, Ayers worked at Downtown Presents, which had been Richmonds urban festival promoter. One of her tasks was to hang event posters in the windows of downtown retailers.

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Juleps restaurant moving downtown