A new lounge-style bar and gallery on Wealthy Street will offer a comfortable environment for art enthusiasts with a rotating menu of cocktails inspired by the displays. The Grey Rabbit will occupy the 1,600-square-foot space at 700 Wealthy St. SE in the former Elk Brewing taproom, which closed permanently in early 2022 . The lounge will open in early October featuring national and local artists and occasional live music, with room for 45 guests indoors and 50 more on an outdoor patio. Grey Rabbit is owned by Will Warren, who is opening the lounge-style gallery as he retires from a 40-year corporate career. Keep up with all things West Michigan business. Sign up for our free newsletters today . The gallery is Warren’s first foray into business ownership. He intends for the space to offer a comfortable and relaxing place for guests to enjoy art and unwind with a glass of wine. Grey Rabbit will be curated in partnership with Michael Burmeister, owner of Button Gallery, an art gallery in Douglas. At the bar, Grey Rabbit will feature a range of wines and locally-sourced beer from West Michigan breweries like Speciation Artisan Ales and Founders Brewing Co. As well, the lounge will offer a limited cocktail menu that will rotate based on the artwork on display. LIV Collective, an entity owned by Warren, purchased the building for $715,000 in April 2023. Warren tapped Stob Construction to build-out the interior for Grey Rabbit, a project that’s involved creating a gallery space, adding a new bar and installing a wall of windows to bring in light. “My goal is to create (a space) that you feel when you walk in,” Warren said. He’s added plenty of unique touches to the space, including a hand-carved wooden bar, which was originally part of the altar in a now-demolished French church from in the late 1800s. “You get to sit in a bar that was right next to a confessional,” he said. As well, the wooden beams making up the footrests at the bar were taken from a barn in Oregon, and tables scattered throughout the lounge space in the gallery feature tabletops that were handmade by Andrew Stob, the owner of Stob Construction. Outside, Warren sourced the decorative wrought iron fencing that outlines the Grey Rabbit’s outdoor patio from France and repurposed it for the space. The patio also offers space for guests to mingle around raised fire pits for gallery openings or while they wait for reservations at nearby dining spots on Wealthy Street. Warren aims to create a visually interesting brand at Grey Rabbit without competing with neighboring restaurants. Grey Rabbit is located between the new Mammoth Distilling taproom at 710 Wealthy St. SE. which opened last year , and East Hills staple The Winchester, and across the street from Donkey Taqueria and new breakfast and lunch restaurant Good Truckin’ Diner at 701 Wealthy St. SE. “This street has a lot of really cool things going on,” Warren said. “This building was pretty plain. It’s not exactly an eyesore, but it wasn’t doing anything interesting, it wasn’t adding (to the street). We’re creating something that l hope is cool.” In addition to offering a space for enthusiasts to gather to explore Grey Rabbit’s art collection, Warren wants the lounge to make art a bit less intimidating for guests. “People go into galleries and get intimidated or feel like they’re looking at things and have to have a perspective,” he said, noting that “it’s kind of hard to get a gut feel for (art) sometimes in a gallery setting.” “One of the things that’s always struck me is if you can look at art in a setting that you’re comfortable in and that you’re experiencing something else in, it puts that in a different perspective,” Warren said. “If this is a comfortable space and you’re sitting with people you like, drinking a good glass of wine and having some cheese, you’re viewing (art) differently. That was the initial idea.” He noted that he’s hiring servers and bartenders who share a passion for art and will be willing to introduce and discuss the pieces with guests. “We’re really conscious of not having stuff distract from the art,” he said. The lounge will hold a soft opening and reception for its first gallery showing, Flower Bomb, on Friday, Sept. 27. The opening will feature 13 West Michigan artists, who will present 2D art inspired by nature. Warren anticipates an early October opening for Grey Rabbit. He plans to eschew a grand opening and quietly begin welcoming guests to the space once the time comes to officially launch the business.
CONTINUE READING
