UPDATE: Jolly Pumpkin Says 'No' to Former Bank Site, Others Interested in Location

UPDATE, Jan. 29, 8:43 a.m.: According to City Manager Don Johnson, another developer may be interested in the former Main Street bank property.

"I don't have all the details on this, it's been in litigation,  but I don't believe it is simply a title problem. The option expired and the owner was no longer willing to sell at that price.  I heard this was resolved or about to be, that Jolly Pumpkin is out of the picture and that others are interested in the building," Johnson said.

Jan. 28, 12:08 p.m.: According to the Detroit Free Press, Jolly Pumpkin Café developers have given up on the former Citizens Bank building located at 218 S. Main Street over issues with the title.

Northern United Brewing Co. told Royal Oak commissioners in January 2012 it planned to move forward and purchase the Citizen’s Bank building, which has been vacant for more than eight years, for $950,000 and spend another $1 million in fixtures, equipment and improvements.

Jolly Pumpkin said it would create 95 new jobs in Royal Oak serving hearth-baked pizzas and gourmet salads with "homemade” alcoholic beverages.

“The original owner reportedly lost the property to foreclosure, and then the bank, which took it over, went belly up and was taken over by the government. So there’s a lot of negotiations and paperwork that has to happen,” former Royal Oak City Commissioner Jim Rasor told Patch in 2012. “So it’s just going to take longer.”

Apparently, two years is long enough to wait.

“We finally gave up on that location,” developer Jon Carlson told the Free Press. “But we haven’t given up (on the project) and are looking for new sites in both Royal Oak and Detroit.” 

Any ideas for a new Royal Oak location for Jolly Pumpkin? Tell us in the comments.