ROCHESTER — An empty former Rochester restaurant that was facing redevelopment as an apartment complex is now slated for an extreme makeover to become a center filled with independent salon service providers. The 4,600-square-foot building at 432 16th St. NW has been empty, since the Perkins restaurant based there closed in 2018.
South Dakota developer Nate Stencil purchased the 60-year-old building in 2022 for $1 million. Stencil, who is the CEO of The Stencil Group and has developed several apartment complexes in Rochester, proposed a couple of different plans to build apartments on the 16th Street site, though those plans seem to have fallen through or at least have been put on hold. However, a new proposal is moving forward to renovate the building to house 22 salon suites for lease to local hair stylists and professionals in related fields.
The model is that each rented studio is its own independent operation with its own name, retail products, prices and hours. While Stencil still owns the property, the salon suites proposal was submitted by California-based Bianchi Estates . When asked about the project, Bianchi Operations Manager Lindi Cano responded that it is in the very early stages.
ADVERTISEMENT “We will know more about the property after our due diligence,” she wrote last week. If this salon project moves forward as planned, it will be the latest in a string of similar businesses to open in Rochester. In 2013, Austin and Kari Lucas opened a Sola Salon Stud.
