Free shuttle service, new pizza place coming to downtown Modesto
What do a free electronic shuttle, a pizza-by-the-slice place, a high-end steakhouse and a hip fitness center all have in common?
If you answered Jaime Jimenez and James Madrid’s big plans for downtown Modesto, you are right and an incredibly good guesser. The business partners already have announced plans for an upscale steakhouse on the corner of I and 10th streets in the old World Savings/Wachovia bank building as well as the Liv Centers health club.
Now, the entrepreneurs with ambitious designs on downtown plan to open Stuart’s Pizza, also on 10th Street, less than a block away from the steakhouse. And, to help bring them and the rest of downtown Modesto together, they’re starting up an electric shuttle bus that will be offered to riders for free.
“It’s just a community thing,” said Madrid, owner of the steakhouse and partner on the other projects. “We want to help people get where they need to go downtown.”
The shuttle already has been taking test runs through downtown, turning heads and generating buzz. The white Polaris Gem bus can seat six, a driver and five passengers. The team paid $25,000 for the electric vehicle, which makes almost no sound as it cruises through downtown streets.
The shuttle should be the first of the team’s projects to hit the streets. Madrid said he hopes to have it running by mid-December at the latest to help with holiday crowds. The plan is to have it run during lunch and dinner hours daily. Riders can hop on and hop off where they want.
A schedule has not been set, nor has the exact way riders will hail the shuttle. But Madrid says they will either go to a designated stop or text from their location to catch a ride. The radius, while not officially set yet either, should roughly encompass from Five Points (at the start of McHenry Avenue) to Ninth Street (and possibly a little beyond).
Madrid said the free service will be run by volunteers and also revenue from advertising and sponsorships placed on the shuttle.
Another new venture from the team is Stuart’s Pizza. Named after the steakhouse namesake, Jimenez’s great-grandfather William Stuart Cunningham, the pizza-by-the-slice place is meant to be an affordable alternative to the high-end restaurant. The restaurant, just off the corner of 11th and J streets between Picasso’s and Greens, is moving into a vacant space that had a series of Mexican restaurants in the past.
They plan to serve monster slices of pizza (think about 13 inches), as well as whole pies, salads, calzones and chicken wings. They plan to have a $6 to $7 price point and offer a variety of grab-and-go items. Besides serving the lunch crowd, they plan to be open for dinner and late to catch bar patrons needing a quick bite while out on the town.
Work is under way inside, and Madrid said he hopes to have Stuart’s Pizza open in January.
Planning the menus at both Stuart’s Pizza and the steakhouse is a well-known name to downtown Modesto diners. Former Galletto’s Ristorante Executive Chef Michael Goularte, who worked at the Italian eatery from 2010 to 2018, has signed on to the projects. He was also partner in downtown Turlock’s Hauck’s Grill from 2016 to earlier this year, when he parted ways with the restaurant.
Since being snapped up for the steakhouse and pizza place, he already is doing custom catering.
“I was ready for a change and a new challenge,” Goularte said. “I love the size of the (steakhouse) building and the high-end cuisine they plan to serve. I’m looking forward to it.”
The plans for the steakhouse have been submitted to the city and are awaiting approval. Remodeling already has begun inside the old bank building, including some of the flooring and paint. Madrid said they hope to receive approval for their design — which includes capacity for some 290 diners as well as a full commercial kitchen, banquet rooms and more — in December and could start construction inside soon after.
If all goes as planned, they hope to be open in early April.
Meanwhile, the first announced project from the team, the multi-story Liv Centers health club, is now on hold and in search of a new location. Since 2017, the plan has been to transform the old Central Stamp & Coin Co. building on 10th Street into a fitness center with tea bar and rooftop deck.
But Madrid said complications in bringing the four-level building up to code and construction issues have made them rethink the site. Instead, the building is now for sale as they search for an alternate downtown spot in a more up-to-date building.
Still, with all these big plans come big questions — like why tackle all these lofty and varied projects simultaneously?
“Jaime and I are the same; we don’t like waiting and think the sooner the better,” Madrid said. “We want to reinvest right away. And we both love downtown and always want to see it improve.”
This story was originally published November 26, 2019 at 1:09 PM.
