Todd Woodruff and Emily Frosaker are a happy young couple starting out their shops — side by side — in a downtown neighborhood that is being recast to accommodate just such dreams.Woodruff's Waffle Champion and Frosaker's Dry/Shop, both opened this past week, join a mix of restaurants, apartments, shops and offices developed by MidTown Renaissance, a partnership between Bob Howard, Mickey Clagg and Chris Fleming.
Both Woodruff and Frosaker credit architect Brian Fitzsimmons with creating the perfect home for their new ventures. Fitzsimmons, who also oversaw design of the nearby Guardian Garage apartments, the 430 NW 12 apartments and the Park Place Alley for MidTown Renaissance, worked closely with both entrepreneurs to create their new vibe.
Fleming, whose task is to balance the mix of new development while subtly introducing new design to the century-old neighborhood, sees Fitzsimmons as key to drawing young entrepreneurs like Woodruff and Frosaker.
“This city has a lot of young talent that are looking for ways to harness their creativity into business ventures and make ideas turn into money,” Fleming said. “We're trying to take a balanced approach with things and not go overboard with restaurants, office or residential, but have a good blend of everything.”
But Fleming also adds that the addition of housing is what drives the neighborhood's evolution from an area that the city declared blighted in 1998.
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