Developers have submitted a proposal to demolish Porta Bella, a beloved downtown Italian restaurant, to make way for a 16-story high-rise apartment building.
Porta Bella has been serving pasta, pizza, and wine at 425 N. Frances St. since 1968. Co-owners Wally Borowski and Ed Shinnick built the restaurant into a Madison staple, earning the title of “Most Romantic Restaurant” for 15 years straight.
Villas Student Housing, a Texas-based company, filed plans to replace the block with high-rise apartments, adding to an area already home to The Hub and The James. Before development can go underway, the proposal will need to be approved by the city, including a review from the Landmarks Commission, which will weigh the historical impact of Porta Bella in Madison.
Shinnick said the growing pressure on local businesses from developers stems from Madison’s rapid population growth. The city added more than 36,000 residents between 2010 and 2020 and projects another 39,000 by 2030. The issue now is housing them.
“It’s a landlocked city with the lakes,” Shinnick said. “The only way to do that is to go up.”
Porta Bella is not the first downtown Madison business to be sought after by developers. Another local restaurant, The Essen Haus, established in the 1980s, has been tied up in redevelopment proposals for years. Shinnick said delays often come from navigating the city’s historical protections.
Porta Bella’s possible closure marks more than just the loss of a restaurant. For 57 years, it has provided jobs for hundreds of college students and introduced Madison diners to Italian culture through partnerships with Monteviale, Italy and local winemakers.
“One of the biggest things we’ve done is that the bulk of our employees are college students,” Shinnick said. “I’ve had people who work for me whose parents worked for me 40 years ago.”
Though he acknowledges what the loss of Porta Bella would mean, Shinnick looks to the future at what these new properties may have the ability to do.
“Small businesses are, especially in the downtown area, really struggling. So hopefully with the population, with these new apartment buildings, that’s going to help them in the long run,” he said. “Most people live outside of this, so now if you get people to come back downtown, that gives it the opportunity to thrive again.”
Still, Shinnick acknowledged Porta Bella’s future is uncertain. In response to whether Porta Bella will remain a downtown staple, he said, “In this location, probably not. Could it continue somewhere else? Maybe.”
Staff Writer
