The downtown St. Paul space that formerly housed restaurants Momento and Pazzaluna is set to be sold.
Morrissey Hospitality, which runs a variety of restaurants and event spaces across the east metro, is selling the nearly 10,000-square-foot restaurant and event space at 360 St. Peter St. at an auction in March, according to an online real estate listing.
The property up for sale includes the ground-floor restaurant and kitchen — including, evidently, all appliances and decor — plus a private event space, offices and an additional 10,000 or so square feet of basement space. The starting bid is set at $150,000.
Morrissey Hospitality president Richard Dobransky declined to comment on the sale until closer to the auction date.
Morrissey transformed the onetime Frank Murphy women’s clothing store into Italian restaurant Pazzaluna in 1998 — an ambitious project, the Pioneer Press reported at the time — and the restaurant closed in 2020. The restaurant group then launched Momento as a woodfired grill in 2022, changed it to a Mediterranean restaurant in 2023 and closed it for good six months later, in March 2024.
Meanwhile, also in 2023, Morrissey repurposed part of the space to rent out for corporate events. After Momento closed to the public, the restaurant space was also folded into the private events portfolio and is occasionally used for pop-ups.
Pazzaluna pop-up dinners are currently scheduled for Feb. 6, 7, 8, 13, 14 and 15.
When Momento closed last year, Dobransky said the restaurant was not financially successful and cited inconsistent foot traffic downtown. With a more predictable schedule, he said at the time, private events seemed like a more sustainable business model.
The restaurant and event space are considered a “retail condo,” owned independently but located within the larger Lowry Lofts building, which is also home to private residences and tenants including the St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists high school.
That building is nearby but separate from the similarly named — and recently condemned — Lowry Apartments, formerly owned by the late downtown real estate developer Jim Crockarell. However, in recent weeks, deteriorating conditions at the now-vacated apartment building have allegedly been spilling over into neighboring buildings including Lowry Lofts, the high school has said.
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