Rob Birenbaum, landlord to multiple Maplewood businesses, posted on the Water Street Facebook page in Oct. that he has bought two more buildings in downtown Maplewood.
“I bought two cool buildings in downtown Maplewood a couple weeks ago and inherited three great tenants,” Birenbaum said. Water Street restaurant is at 7268 Manchester Road.
Birenbaum’s new tenants, with his comments:
- Acero Ristorante: Just ask Zagat. When they recently named the Top 10 restaurants in STL, two were owned by Jim Fiala: Acero and The Crossing!
- Water Street: Vintage cocktails and interesting small plates make for a unique experience.
- Femme: One of the most stylish women’s boutiques in STL for 10 years.
Birenbaum was compared to Donald Trump and Joe Edwards (of University City) in the comments. Here are a few others:
- I’m thrilled the legit art deco front has maintained its look and design. The shop there now adopted the very energy and feel of the building. They are absolutely perfect together. How cool. The spanish tile next door is also well-kept. I was afraid the Mustard Seed was going to ruin both.
- CONGRATS, ROB!!! Bringing your signature class, vision and savvy to even more of the ‘hood!
- Rob, sounds like you need some advice that applies to grocery shopping: Don’t go shopping for real estate on an empty stomach! They sound great and we will check them out …
Rob Birenbaum's new building in Maplewood. (credit: Google Maps, on Water Street Facebook)
I have known Rob for quite a few years and can say that he is a first class landlord with excellent ethics and fairness. With Rob’s participation on the SBD and as a major property owner, I feel very optimistic about Maplwood’s future. Good Job Rob !!!!
I am glad that he likes the flavor of our city…..but also hoping that he doesn’t raise the rent and the businesses there don’t find it difficult to stay. I’m thinking of the businesses further West of here…..where the rate was so high as to drive the business away. In particular the corner of Sutton and Manchester. The businesses in those two buildings are just perfect.
As long as he’s committed to maintaining the historic flavor of that side of downtown Maplewood, I guess it doesn’t matter that one person owns the bulk of our downtown. But anytime someone buys up large portions of adjacent properties, there might be a reason to worry. Zoning would hopefully prevent any sort of wholesale removal, though.
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