During our daily office-break walk in the afternoons, we've watched the progress of the former Cabo's, which is getting turned into Republic. The international whisky bar concept is that of Rick Lyons, a former partner in Bandito's and Star-Lite.

The constant reader may have read my report on the project several weeks ago. The interior alteration proceeds apace, with developer Justin French's installation of flooring retrieved from a million-square-foot Goodrich tire factory in Thomastown, Ga. French says that the solid maple flooring will keep its historic patina; the wood will get sealed, not refinished. "A lot of bars in Brooklyn have done that," he says.

And in the "There He Goes Again" department, French said that he's removed the aluminum façade from the Richmond Glass Company building at the intersection of Laurel and Broad. This was once the station for the commuter rail line that ran electric streetcars from Richmond to Ashland. A neoclassical façade covered that building, and some of it remains, which French hopes to save. His ultimate plan is to install student housing there.