Lender gets W.A. Frost building in sheriff’s sale

ST. PAUL

Restaurant owner Rupp says he plans to reacquire property

The Dacotah Building, which houses W.A. Frost, on the corner of Selby and Western avenues in St. Paul’s Cathedral Hill neighborhood is pictured on Wednesday. Longtime building and restaurant owner John Rupp owes Merchants Bank, which bought the building in a sheriff’s sale last week, $1.7 million. John Autey — Pioneer Press

PREVIOUS IMAGE

Image

NEXT IMAGE

By Frederick Melo

fmelo@pioneerpress.com

The Dacotah Building on St. Paul’s Selby Avenue — home to the popular W.A. Frost & Company restaurant and bar and several floors of office tenants — was sold at a sheriff’s sale last week to Merchants Bank, which holds the building’s mortgage.

A court judgment updated last week holds property owner John Rupp liable for $68,000 in attorney’s fees, bringing his total debt to the bank to $1.7 million. The building has been in court-ordered limited receivership under the JBL Cos. since March, and a Ramsey County District Court judge granted the bank a default judgment in April against Rupp for his “failure to answer or otherwise respond to the complaint.”

In an interview Tuesday, Rupp said he purchased the 1880s, Italian Renaissance-style structure 50 years ago and has filled it with small businesses, including his two-level W.A. Frost restaurant and “a couple dozen” office tenants, and he has no intention of letting the property go.Rupp received a $2.2 million loan in 2017 from the First National Bank of Northfield, which later merged with Merchants Bank, but he fell behind on payments, according to court documents.

The sheriff’s sale, which follows a long-simmering dispute with Merchants Bank over the overdue mortgage payments, allows Rupp six months to bring payments up to date and reacquire the property, which is registered as a series of business condominiums owned by Rupp and DACBLD.

Rupp said he was in the process of obtaining a loan to do just that.

“I was going to close the loan several weeks ago, and the loan closing is delayed,” Rupp said. “There was a sheriff’s sale. I have six months to pay it off, which I will. Which is what I was going to do three weeks ago, but there was a technical problem with the bank three weeks ago. There’s no problem here. It’s just a headache.”

432 Summit Avenue, other historic properties

Rupp has invested in a number of historic St. Paul properties over the decades, several of which have become mired in financial turmoil as maintenance needs have mounted and his tenant mix has changed. Some, like the University Club on Summit Avenue, remain celebrated for their history or grandeur.

On July 27, a Ramsey County District Court judge updated Merchants Bank’s default judgment against Rupp for overdue loan payments related to 432 Summit Ave., a three-unit rental property he maintains in the Burbank Livingston Griggs Mansion on Cathedral Hill. The new total due on the property, which is also under receivership with the JBL Cos., is $925,000.

Rupp also owns Capital City Ventures, the parent company to the St. Paul Athletic Club, which opened in 1918 on downtown Cedar Street but closed in 2021. Capital City Ventures filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last July. The property failed to sell at auction in September 2024.

When Madison Equities, a major downtown property owner led by the late James Crockarell, fell behind on maintenance and mortgage payments, the real estate empire crumbled, leaving tenants and properties in disarray after Crockarell’s death in January 2024. The ripple effect has been felt throughout a downtown dotted by under-resourced, vacant or semi-vacant and foreclosed properties.

A June 25 letter to the court and court exhibit signed by receiver Jeffrey B. Larson of the Eagan-based JBL Cos. notes that W.A. Frost does not have an active lease in the Dacotah building, and there’s no evidence the restaurant has paid rent since late 2024.

“The tenant has not paid rent for quite some time,” reads the letter, which notes the restaurant could face an eviction process.

Rupp: W.A. Frost had banner year

Rupp said Merchants Bank has no financial stake in the W.A. Frost restaurant itself, which he said has enjoyed a banner year. Live entertainment held on the outdoor patio all summer will soon move indoors to an intimate basement dining area as the weather cools.

Upstairs offices remain occupied by lawyers, psychologists and other entrepreneurs, he said, even as downtown St. Paul office buildings have struggled to fill space.

“Business has been great — a record year for the building and Frost,” Rupp said. “After 50 years in operation, it’s the highest profit by a significant margin. It’s been great. Very few places can say that.”