Longtime Frogtown bar to be razed

It’s closing time for a Frogtown building that has housed numerous bars since 1916. The building at 981 University Ave., the northwest corner of University and Chatsworth, will be torn down to make way for a new multi-tenant commercial structure. The occupants are expected to include a laundromat.
The St. Paul Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) Feb. 18, 2025 approved a needed variance to redevelop the site. The underlying zoning is traditional neighborhoods, which brings floor area ratio requirements. St. Paul uses floor area ratio requirements to promote added density.
BZA members voted for the variance, noting the challenges of getting increased density along University and weighing what the city’s comprehensive plan and the property’s underlying zoning. “It’s obviously difficult when we want to see increased density,” said BZA Member Jerome Benner. Other board members agreed.
But Benner said he was influenced by the small size of the development site, as well as its location near the edge of a designated station area.
The .34-acre site is just inside of the Lexington Parkway Green Line light rail station area, which brings additional requirements to promote density as sites are redeveloped.
A minimum floor area ratio of .5 is required with a 7,909 square foot building. A building size of 6,124 square feet is proposed. A variance of .39 is proposed for a variance of .11.
The existing building has off-street parking of its own. It’s adjacent off-street parking that belongs to a larger commercial building to the west. The new building would have 14 off-street spaces. The applicants cited the need for off-street parking for the laundromat.
David Eide of the BZA staff cited challenges in redeveloping the site, including the long, narrow configuration of the property.
Kelly Sather is the project architect. Remi Iselewa of I-SunRay Properties LLC is the property owner. Both addressed the BZA about the project. They spoke of the challenges of the site, and of trying to design a building that is compatible with the structure to the west.
BZA members praised the intent of keeping the development as mixed use. They also support the idea of removing a curb cut along University, and having access be at the rear of the building.
BZA Member Brian Martinson asked why the project is a one-story building, as two-story building would help meet the floor area ratio requirement. Iselewa explained that question has come up with another project she is involved in.
Adding a second story adds costs with the need for stairs and an elevator, Iselewa said. Another issue is the way that laundromat business would vent several dryers.
If this latest proposal becomes reality, it would truly mark the end of an era in Frogtown. The building at 981 University was erected in 1916. At some point it was expanded at the rear of the property. It was renovated in 2016. It long served as a neighborhood bar.
Longtime Frogtowners might remember it as Herges. It was Johnny Baby’s before closing in early 2020.
Eide also noted that various proposals to redevelop and reuse the site have been reviewed over the years by city staff but have never moved forward.
The property was sold in 2020 to Suntide Commercial Realty, after Johnny Baby’s had closed. The company announced its intention to convert the building for commercial use.
While Johnny Baby’s and its predecessors were popular spots, there was also a history of violence. In 2014, a bouncer was given a St. Paul Police Department Medal of Valor for preventing a man with a gun from shooting inside the crowded bar.
Fatal shootings were also reported over the years, most recently on New Year’s Day 2020.
In 2021, the planning commission approved a conditional use permit to transform the site into office space. The permit would have allowed a higher building height. The longtime building would have been renovated and expanded under that proposal.