Oct. 14—ROCHESTER — Jeff and Sarah Schwenker are renovating downtown Rochester's historic first brick building to give it a new life as an intimate restaurant.

Construction has started at

the 164-year-old Kelley Building

at 332 South Broadway to transform it into Marrow, a new 45-seat restaurant.

"Our goal is to create something cozy, comforting. We'll start off doing just dinner service. Eventually, the goal is to eventually also offer brunch," said Sarah Schwenker. "This is the kind of atmosphere that we love. And those are the kind of experiences that we enjoy putting together for other people."

Many people will remember

Chef Jeff Schwenker and Marrow from 2019

, when he launched a pop-up eatery of that name in a small downtown space under what is now the

Thai Pop

building at 4 Third St. SW.

After years of searching for a place to launch Marrow as a permanent restaurant, Schwenkers were shown the Kelley Building, which last housed the

Patterson Dahlberg Injury Lawyers

offices. Patterson Dahlberg moved out in 2020.

Commercial Rochester realtor and investor

Bucky Beeman purchased the Kelley building

for $675,000 a month after the law firm moved out.

The vibe of the old building with lots of exposed brick was a good fit for the Schwenkers' vision for their restaurant.

Chef Jeff Schwenker

trained at Le Cordon Bleu, so his roots are in French cuisine. However, he worked at a variety of restaurants in Minnesota and elsewhere, including Rochester's Loop. That gives him a culinary range from high-end dishes to popular Midwest comfort food.

"The focus will be on seafood, poultry and vegetables. We will utilize his classic French training, but with a little humor to have fun with it," said Sarah Schwenker.

Chef Schwenker said he enjoys "high and low" cooking, which means taking well-dishes into unexpected directions with fresh flavors.

The Schwenkers hope to open Marrow with a small team of 10 to 12 staffers in early 2023.

The restaurant will feature an open kitchen at the back with seating at chef's counter as well as a bar. Their vision is to create a welcoming neighborhood place where people can experience fine dining as well as "a really good hamburger" in a cozy setting that shows off the historic nature of the building.

This new project comes as downtown is seeing a spate of restaurants closing. Hefe Rojo and the

original Newt's

closed earlier this month.

Potbelly's Sandwiches

also closed recently. The Loop and Cameo also shut their doors in recent years.

None of that worries the Schwenkers, who see places like the Bleu Duck Kitchen and Thai Pop busy serving crowds of diners in their own historic buildings.

"There's a really amazing culinary community downtown and we're excited to be a part of it," said Sarah Schwenker. "There are some really amazing things going on downtown. We firmly believe that it's just going to continue to get better."

Housing a restaurant like Marrow is the latest milestone in the Kelley Building's long life, which started in 1858. Built by Dr. Lewis Halsey Kelley with locally made bricks, the building was home to the first medical practice in Rochester as well as a dry goods store, a basement saloon and the city's first newspaper on the second floor.

Beside Andrews Dry Goods, Sam Blackson's Saloon and The Rochester City Post, the Kelley Building has also housed Upman & Poole Drugs, Anderson's Drug Store, Quality Print Shop and the famed Huey's Cigar Store over the years.