Urban Stillhouse to undergo a transformation

After six years as a paying tenant, Urban Stillhouse owner Meredith Koko has purchased the property at 2232 5th Avenue S. And there’s no time like the present: The upscale restaurant and distillery, with its rustic, wood, brick and leather ski lodge interior, is getting a major makeover.

Koko paid $8 million April 13 for the 16,000-square-foot building in the Warehouse Arts District.

A separate office facility next door will be transformed into a less formal (and less pricey) dining and drinking room. “I want to do something that’s more approachable,” Koko said.

Some of the 9/11 memorabilia currently housed in Urban Stillhouse’s upstairs, members-only club will be relocated downstairs. And some menu items will change.

“We’re going to re-do all of that fabulous furniture,” Koko said. “And this is so funny: We had a review a couple weeks ago, and it was ‘Five stars. The food was amazing. The service was amazing. But my armrest felt like a razor blade.’

“OK! I’d heard that before so, time to do something about it. All that stuff is so fancy and beautiful, but it’s seen a lot of people. It’s very normal wear and tear.

“And we’re going to do some cosmetic stuff to the walls. The brick is beautiful, but I want to do some shadowboxing with some of the distillery photos. I want to be sure people remember that we’re there to support that brand, and that we are a real bourbon company.”

Hose Soldier Bourbon team members launch their brand in 2018: Scott Neil, left, Tyler Gardner and Merrick Mirabella. Photo by Bill DeYoung.

Although Meredith Koko is the sole owner of Urban Stillhouse, it’s licensed by Horse Soldier Bourbon, which has maintained a St. Petersburg presence since 2018.

Horse Soldier CEO Scott Neil and John Koko (Meredith’s father) were part of a group of 12 Green Berets deployed into mountainous Afghanistan, on horseback, just days after 9/11. Their mission, dubbed Task Force Dagger, succeeded in prying several key cities loose from the grip of the Taliban.

After the so-called Horse Soldiers returned stateside, a statue in their honor was erected at Ground Zero in New York. A movie and a documentary were made about them.

“All of that seems important and flashy,” Neil told the Catalyst in 2019, “but it doesn’t fill the void in your life when you retire.”

Neil, along with Koko and his wife Elizabeth Pritchard, became smitten with the craft whiskey distillation process. Using a recipe created by Neil, they developed Horse Soldier Bourbon, along with other liquors.

At the same time, many of the military men relocated to St. Petersburg, having fallen for the area during their tenure at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.

Together, they purchased a 16,000-square-foot space at in the Warehouse Arts District, for their American Freedom Distillery. Although the bourbons were initially distilled in Ohio (the hot Florida weather is not good for the aging process, Neil explained), gin, rum and vodka were produced at the Florida location.

“St. Pete is on fire,” Neil said in 2019. “Everybody hoped there was something that size in downtown St. Pete. There wasn’t. We were lucky that we found that building. It was a little bigger than we thought we needed – but then, if you’re gonna be a monkey, be a gorilla.”

Originally to be called America Neat Grill & Whiskey House, the in-house restaurant opened in August 2020 as Urban Stillhouse.

Last year, the distillery was relocated to Somerset, Kentucky; Koko turned the room into an event space.

“Our a la carte business is amazing and successful, but we do a lot of weddings. It’s so beautiful, it looks like a Montana ranch in the middle of Florida. And we do a lot of parties.

“I would say just under 40 percent of my business is events. I think that’s one of the reasons why we’ve done well.”

Scheduled to be christened July 4 in Somerset is Horse Soldier Farms, which will include a state-of-the-art distillery. All the company’s products will be manufactured there. And there’s a second Urban Stillhouse restaurant already open on the property.

“We took a really big gamble on going to the Warehouse Arts District,” Koko said. “I think we knew seven years ago hey, this side of town is going to grow up around us.

“And it has. And I think within the next two years it’s going to be a walkable area.”

Urban Stillhouse, 2232 5th Avenue S. Photo provided.