3rd St. Pizza building for sale

Rachel Thompson/News-Register##The 3rd Street Pizza building, seen during the trick-or-treating event on Halloween, is for sale for $950,000. The space has been empty since a May 2023 fire, but extensive renovation work has been completed.

The former 3rd St. Pizza and Moonlight Theater building is up for sale.

Mike Morris, a real estate broker with Miller Consulting Group, said sellers are looking for someone who not only can pay the $950,000 asking price, but also is passionate about downtown McMinnville.

“They need a love of the community,” Morris said. “That’s what Donna Wright (who owns the building) has always had.”

The former restaurant and theater building at 433 N.E. Third St., has been empty since May 2023, when it was extensively damaged by an early morning fire set by a transient in the alley behind the business. Al and Meagan Whitaker were unable to reopen the restaurant.

Many repairs have been completed, Morris said, including seismic upgraded installed by WORX Construction, along with a new roof and bearing walls and new electrical, HVAC and plumbing systems. But the project to reopen the pizza and movie business ran out of money before it was finished.

Now, owner Wright is selling the building as a “blank slate,” Morris said. It could be finished as another restaurant, a department store or offices, he said, or a second floor could be built for apartments or offices to generate more rental income.

The building first was listed at $1.2 million, but now the price has dropped to $950,000. Depending on the intended use, Morris estimated it might take another $200,000 to $300,000 before it would clear code requirements.

Third Street properties don’t come up for sale very often, said Morris, a commercial real estate broker. When they do, it is common for buildings to be snapped up before they hit the public market, he said.

Currently, however, there are three being advertised.

One is the former home of Willamette Valley Vineyards’ tasting room at 300 N.E. Third St., the southeast corner of Third and Cowls streets.

The three-story, 9,000-square-foot commercial and residential property held a department store and other businesses before the tasting room, which closed this summer after 15 years. Property owner Andy Wilder listed the building for $1.4 million in the spring.

The other is the Bistro Maison business and the 4,600-square-foot vintage home at 729 N.E. Third St. in which it is located. The package is listed at $1,995,000.