The old International Shoe Company building on Capitol Avenue has a new owner.
Holly and Nathan Stitt, owners of Stitt Barony LLC, have purchased the building from DeLong Properties.
Holly Stitt said they had considered buying the building about two years ago but ultimately did not.
Local business owner Raymond Latocki had been planning to bring a "fun factory" to the building, a project he'd had in the works since at least December of last year. The 115-year-old, 87,000-square-foot building would have held a restaurant and entertainment zones including a haunted house, mini-golf, escape rooms and more as ISC Fun Factory.
The Stitts don't have any firm plans for the building just yet, but they plan to work with architects as they figure out what they can bring to the building.
Stitt said the one thing they do know is the location will be the new permanent home of the La Chica Loca food truck, which used to park outside of Avenue HQ at 621 E. Capitol Ave. before both the building and truck were damaged during the May 22 tornado.
La Chica Loca owner Amanda Jensen said they plan to have a commissary kitchen in the building eventually, which will essentially serve as a prep kitchen, similar to a set-up they had at Avenue HQ.
"I'm super excited about the new space," Jensen said. She hopes to have La Chica Loca back up and running in a new truck within the month.
The new building is owned by the Stitts but is entirely separate from Avenue HQ, a business Holly Stitt co-owns with Quinten Rice.
Stitt emphasized they are not abandoning Avenue HQ or their corner at Capitol Avenue and Lafayette Street.
"We're not abandoning this corner. We're not going to just leave this corner a big empty hole. We still plan to rebuild over there," Stitt said.
The Avenue HQ building was demolished last week due to the extensive tornado damage it received, which Stitt told the News Tribune was "very surreal."
Plans to rebuild at 621 E. Capitol Ave. aren't going anywhere, she said. They just couldn't pass up the opportunity to buy a building they've had an interest in for a while.
"We've loved it for years, and didn't want to let it go this time," Stitt said. "Now we're able to fulfill that dream."