The Yard Garage
Using targeted activation to build demand for a forgotten street corner.
For years, a historic service station across the river from Downtown Cincinnati in Dayton, Kentucky, sat dormant. It was a relic of the town’s early automotive past. Recognizing its latent potential to be a new kind of destination, Yard & Co. acquired the building, first as its office, then as a place for rampant experimentation that incrementally evolved to become one of the region’s hottest new cafés. More than just a real estate venture, The Garage has become an award-winning example of how Yard’s demand discovery approach can bring value, revitalization, and energy to places hidden in plain sight.
Services
Development
Activation
Brand
Timeframe
2020 - Present
Location
Dayton, KY
Client
Yard & Co.
Partners
Catalytic Fund of Northern Kentucky
City of Dayton, KY
MB Construction
Cafe Elliott
An Old Service Station was Left for Dead
Originally built in the early 1900s, the building evolved under a number of permutations as a fill-up station and later a full-service mechanic shop called Bud’s Garage. After Bud sold his shop, the building fell into disuse. Throughout the years, various owners made slight modifications with the most dramatic being the removal of the fuel storage tanks. Neighbors to the property eventually became accustomed to a quiet reminder of a bygone era used mostly for storage.
An Opportunity to
Test Ideas in
Uncertain Times
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Yard had the opportunity to acquire the building and move its operations across the river from its downtown Cincinnati location to the Garage, where we could work in a fully ventilated open-air environment. As the pandemic restrictions receded, the testing and tinkering with the space grew.
In a series of trials, The Garage became a provisional pop-up drive-thru for our friends at Unataza Coffee, a comedy club that eventually morphed into a permanent Commonwealth Comedy Club around the corner, a self-service membership co-working lounge and event space that hosted everything from Cintas off-site corporate retreats to ESPN’s Chosen One, community dance parties for Cinco de Mayo, and pop-up BBQ events. Through each intervention, modest improvements were made to the building, the intersection it sits on, and the relationship to Dayton’s commercial district, where the zoning was extended to encompass the property, and the Dayton Main Street Association was revamped. The zoning allowed for a wider range of uses, the elimination of unnecessary parking requirements, and eligibility for City of Dayton economic development tools.
A Place for Time Well Spent.
The Garage was now on the map. As a new audience started to find its way to this corner of the region, entrepreneurs took notice. They loved the space, its unique location, and the growing energy along the City’s main drag. In meeting with several potential permanent tenants, the owners of a new concept, Elliott Coffee, aligned with our vision of the property as an active “third place.” Not only did they build out the coffee shop with the same level of care and curiosity as we took to the space, but they moved their family to Dayton to become fully rooted in the community. Now in its third year of operation, the Elliott Coffee team is doubling down, adding a fuller kitchen service, elevated programming, and venue rental as part of their 6-days-a-week offering.
Project Impact
