New owner purchases grocery store, brewery properties

The properties housing Great Northern Brewing Co. and Markus Foods in downtown Whitefish are under new property management, and while the new owners intend to retain Markus Foods as a grocery store, future plans for the brewery building aren’t as clear-cut.

Last year, real estate developer Rob Isackson and his partners completed two separate property transactions to purchase the brewery building at 2 Central Ave. and the building that houses Markus Foods and a row of businesses stretching from Railway Street to First Street along Baker Avenue, including, SaltBox Dry Salt Therapy, Tree of Life Tattoo, 33 Baker Hair and Body Salon, One Heart Now and The Barefoot Haven.

Isackson said his family has had a home in Whitefish for over 20 years. He works with Village Properties in Belmont, California.

Isackson said plans are in the works to renovate the properties and maintain the existing businesses there. Construction is scheduled to begin in summer 2021.

“Our plan is to renovate and modernize the strip of shops, including the Markus Foods,” Isackson said in an email about the prominent downtown block. “It is our intention to maintain a grocery store at the location.”

Markus Foods opened in 1986, according to the grocery store’s website.

Isackson said the new owners have leased the grocery store and neighboring businesses to their current owners “for the time-being.”

Business owners of the various shops told the Daily Inter Lake they’re uncertain about the future of the block. They were informed about the change in property ownership in November by Integrity Property Management in Kalispell.

The City of Whitefish’s downtown master plan, updated in 2018, calls for the block to be developed with commercial or residential over ground floor retail fronting First Street or with a boutique hotel on the site. It notes that the block across Baker to the west should be investigated as a grocery store location.

As for the brewery on the east side of the block, which has been a downtown landmark, Isackson said “the plan is to renovate the building and attract a craft brewery and restaurant to this iconic location.”