At the Makers Market retail space inside Center at Sixth, local BIPOC artists and entrepreneurs sell goods ranging from graphic novels and hair care to art, clothing and more.On the right: bracelets by Paola Elena of Piedras Haseya.
Writer: Lisa Rossi
Photographer: Duane Tinkey
THE CENTER AT SIXTH HAS COME ALIVE
In interviews before the new business incubator opened on Sixth Avenue, organizers and entrepreneurs said they were excited to see the space, which includes a makers market with 23 artists, a food hall with seating for 40, and two new restaurants that could open this spring or summer. The project’s second phase calls for one or two more restaurants, plus six live-work apartments on the second floor.
“We’ve been working on this project for a long time, and there’s just not a lot of food options along the corridor,” said Susan Fitzsimmons, vice president and general counsel at Christensen Development and co-developer on the project. “Each of these businesses has such a strong following and will be bringing customers here.”
“I’m just excited for people to start to come to Sixth Avenue as a destination and really drive that economic development,” she added.
The longest leases for the restaurants go up to two years, “so we can continually provide that space for new entrepreneurs,” said Marquas Ashworth, another co-developer on the project.
Ashworth said last May that part of the inspiration for the name Center at Sixth was a harkening back to Center Street, which was a thriving hub for the city’s Black community before it was displaced by the construction of Interstate 235.
“Most of that community ended up in the Sixth Avenue corridor,” he said. “Center at Sixth, it’s just a reckoning back to what we lost.”
Center at Sixth now provides opportunities for small businesses to grow on Sixth Avenue and spur economic development along the corridor, he said.
The building’s tenants pay less-than-market rent to stand up their operations. They also have retail space to test-launch products, access to a kitchen and opportunities for networking and mentorship, the developers said.
The building cost $6.9 million for construction, the bulk of the project’s total cost of $8.5 million. Its developers received public funding from the state, county and city, as well as support from the Wells Fargo Foundation, Prairie Meadows, the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines and private donors.
The land was donated by the nonprofit 6th Avenue Corridor, which supports the neighborhood’s economic vitality. A separate nonprofit called Center at Sixth was created and now owns the building.
“This is one of those projects that isn’t supposed to happen, so for it not only [to] be happening but to be thriving and having some of the community’s favorite entities go in, it’s been cool to see,” Ashworth said. “Once you create the pathway and you start to see people walking on that path, that’s been one of the coolest aspects.”
G.G.’S CHICKEN & WAFFLES
At one of the building’s new restaurants, G.G.’s Chicken & Waffles, owner Garrison Goodlett said he’ll be serving soul food with “some love on the side.”
“We want to be more than just a restaurant,” he said. “I believe that food connects people. You can have people on different sides. They should sit down in front of some good food, and it brings people together.”
The menu features variations on fried chicken — wings, Nashville style, with waffles — along with sweet potatoes, honey butter cornbread, five-cheese mac ‘n’ cheese, collard greens, green beans and potato salad.
Goodlett learned to make fried chicken at fundraisers for his church, Christ Apostolic Temple. During a trip to Los Angeles, he and his wife, Monica, visited Roscoe’s House of Chicken ’N Waffles where they waited in line — a good sign — but were ultimately underwhelmed. He figured he could do it better.
At his own restaurant, he serves up more than food. “It’s also about making an impact,” he said. “Being in that center is going to help us bring more businesses to that community, more light to that community. The synergy that’s happening in that area is awesome right now. … So I love it, and I think it was meant to be.”
JAMBO AFRICAN CUISINE
At another of the new restaurants, Jambo African Cuisine, owner and cook Aminatha Mkama will serve dishes from East Africa, specifically her native Tanzania.
“I started cooking for my family, friends and community events. That’s why I decided now to feed the world, feed Iowa, just for them to get to experience Tanzanian food, as well,” she said. “We started with catering from home before we moved to a commercial kitchen, and then we started doing big events, like festivals and farmers markets.”
The brick and mortar space features a menu of coconut rice and beans, along with fish, beef and chicken. Mkama makes her own spice blends with coriander, garlic, ginger, cilantro, cumin and cinnamon.
When Mkama was growing up in Tanzania, her mother had a catering business that used Mkama’s grandmother’s recipes. Her mom trusted her with cooking and passed her the recipes.
“As they came to me, I twisted some things because there are some spices I cannot get here,” she said. “So instead, I just had to blend my own.”
She described her arrival at Center at Sixth as a journey. “It’s exciting, and also I’m nervous, as well, because catering is something you do maybe once a month, and now it’s a commitment of doing five days a week,” she said. “So as a mother of three boys and as a wife, it’s scary, but I know we can get it done, because it’s something that I’ve been wanting to do and I love doing. I was super excited to be part of Center at Sixth’s community, and I’m excited to feed more people.”
Lisa Rossi is a staff writer for the Business Record, a sibling publication of dsm magazine.
Show Comments (0)