Pictured is the former Gialy’s Restaurant at 210 Pine Street, set now to be taken over by Shift Fynancial. P-J photo by Sara Holthouse

A former restaurant space on Pine Street is looking to be taken over by an investment advisory group as the Jamestown Local Development Corporation approved a loan for the purchase of the building during their latest meeting.

Alex Johnson, owner of Shift Fynancial, a registered investment advisory which provides employer-sponsored retirement plans, personalized financial planning, and investment management services, was in attendance at the meeting, asking for a $75,000 loan with four percent interest over 10 years. The location is at 210 Pine St., the former home of Gialy’s Restaurant and the Town Club.

Shift Fynancial was officially licensed in 2019, though it did not get fully started until 2021 because of COVID. Johnson said the office is currently in his home and has outgrown the space.

“The plan is to purchase an office space for client meetings, hiring employees, which cannot be done out of my small home office,” Johnson said. “210 Pine was brought up to me at a fish eatery, so I went and looked at the property and I couldn’t do anything because of public litigation, but I looked at the property. It has an upstairs office over the restaurant. The kitchen is in the basement, the restaurant is on the first floor, there’s a beautiful office on the second floor along with another very small office and a nice lounge in the back.”

WRFA Radio reported that according to the State Supreme Court filings, Gialy’s LLC filed litigation in December 2024 alleging a broken contract when Locale Hospitality LLC, Matthew Dinger, and Morgan Zollman backed out of buying the former restaurant located on 210 Pine Street. That lawsuit was settled by July 2, with Dinger and Zollman being released from buying the property in return for paying Gialy’s LLC a total of $55,000.

Johnson said the space is more than he needs, but that it is a beautiful building on the inside and that he thought after discussions with other local people there is an option to use the space as an event venue or for the kitchen to be refurbished for caterers.

“There’s not a lot of event venue space in Jamestown from what I understand,” Johnson said. “I know my wife had a wedding shower at Studio D, which doesn’t exist I don’t think anymore, so there is opportunity there. Obviously it won’t be the prime focus for my use, but it has other potential for different opportunities.”

Johnson said he can afford to have the building through the company but that if there is any opportunity for other income from caterers or events it allows him to have another stream of income.

It was also suggested that with the boom of food trucks in the area the kitchen space could be used as a commissary kitchen for them as many do not have one in the area or even the county to use. Johnson said there are two walk-in refrigerators that he has been told are in working order but other items may need to be purchased. It was noted that this would not be something necessarily needed immediately as it would not be Johnson’s main use for the building.

Johnson briefly discussed two leaks in the roof, and potential funding or tax credits for that repair, saying that there is a lot of work that needs done on that building. The city is also able to help him get the information that he may need for that.

There is no anticipated closing date as of right now because of the restaurant’s litigation. The JDLC officially approved Shift Fynancial’s loan.