Bella Vita, a Southside restaurant that moonlights as a weekend nightclub, is closing for an undetermined amount of time as the business undergoes a complete redo.
In a post on Facebook on June 18, the downtown club said it “is now under construction in order to bring you two new beautiful clubs soon.”
A staff member who asked that his name not be used said he was unsure when the renovations will begin or how long they might last.
“We’re in the process of getting everything squared away,” he said.
As for what the remodel will look like, he said, “Oh you’ll just have to wait and see.”
The 14,384-square-foot restaurant and club at 1400 Cowart St. was opened only six months ago as Bella Vita restaurant and The Ultra Lounge by Tammie Taylor, as a successor to the former Niko’s Southside Grill. According to the Hamilton County Assessor’s Office, the building was erected in 1906 and is valued at nearly $1.4 million. COW Art LLC, of Charleston, S.C., owns the property.
The staff member at the restaurant said last Tuesday that the remodel had nothing to do with a pair of shootings that happened earlier this year outside the restaurant.
On March 13, Reuben Simpson, 35, was shot in the head in the early morning on Cowart Street, near the restaurant. Police said his wounds were considered minor.
Two months later, a security guard, 40, was fatally shot in the upper chest at the location. Andrew Wilson, 31, was arrested and charged with criminal homicide in the death.
Wilson said he shot in self-defense, but according to his arrest affidavit, video of the shooting showed him drawing a pistol and shooting Sanders while Sanders exchanged punches with another man.
The defendant also made the same claim about self-defense when he told the police he fatally shot another man, Desmond McClure, 28, nine times outside an event hall in the 2500 block of East Main Street.