From fire comes Ember Social event hall

Amy and Nick Fallucca said the name of their downtown Grafton event hall and co-working space, Ember Social, is based not only on the 1868 building’s origins as a blacksmith shop but the devastating fire that consumed it five years ago.

“The fire couldn’t extinguish the building,” Amy said. “The embers are still burning.”

The Falluccas purchased the building at 1327 Wisconsin Ave. last year and continued an extensive remodel started by the previous owners and brothers Robert and Richard Rieck.

The brothers had operated Heinz & Sons 57 Auto Body, started by their father Heinz in 1963, out of the building until a fire in 2019. The fire started between two exhaust systems on the second floor and spread to the roof, requiring extensive repairs to the upper floor.

The Rieck brothers replaced the building’s rafters and main beams, reconstructed the second floor and repaired the walls before they ran into issues with the building’s zoning and sold it to the Falluccas.

The rest of the remodel — redoing the ground floor, adding offices and new bathrooms and constructing a bar — was completed by the Falluccas.

Amy said she served as general contractor and overcame a lot of roadblocks along the way.

“This project was particularly spicy. The building fought back,” Amy said, noting the couple originally planned to open Ember Social in April, then in May, before arriving at the October grand opening date.

“It was really important for me to keep the look of the building. We went for a modern industrial design,” she said. The first-floor event space can accommodate 80 people seated and 115 people standing.

“It’s kind of an optical illusion. It looks quite cozy, but it is still quite big,” Amy said.

Amy said Ember Social will primarily host events such as bridal and baby showers, class reunions and wedding rehearsals.

The space, while small for traditional-size weddings, is ideal for modern, intimate weddings, Amy said. She pointed out that 40% of weddings have fewer than 100 people.

Amy said the space will host public events as well. Ember Social held a Halloween party for its grand opening and was open during Fall into Grafton.

The couple also plans to host music and comedy shows.

Amy was inspired to open an event hall during the pandemic. Amy noticed that the events she and Nick could go to were always out of town.

“We found if we were going out, we were going to Milwaukee,” she said.

So they decided to change that, Nick said.

“We wanted to bring fun events and cool things to do to Grafton,” he said.

Amy said the idea of leasing co-working space came from her experience as an entrepreneur.

While she has several employees, Amy said, she doesn’t get to have face-to-face interactions with them because they work remotely.

“You still go to work, but you don’t get to be around people,” she said.

One of the interesting aspects of a co-working space is that people from different industries work next to each other — for example, a YouTuber and a fashion designer — and can bounce ideas back and forth, Amy said.

Amy said she will hold activities and small events such as happy hours for the renters to make Ember more than just an office.

Renting  co-working space and hosting events go hand in hand, she said, because the rentals provide constant revenue to supplement gaps in the event schedule.

While Ember has a kitchen, the Falluccas will bartend but won’t cater events, Amy said.

  Amy said building doesn’t have a parking lot, which has concerned some people. However, she noted, there are almost 160 public parking spaces within two blocks.

“I’ve been coming here every day for a year, and I always get the same parking spot, so I think it’ll be fine,” she said.

The second floor has an office  and tables available to rent monthly for working space.

Amy said they’ve hired a general manager for the building and have 10 to 15 people interested in working as bartenders.

“What’s nice is that it totally works for someone with a full-time job,” she said about the bartender positions, adding that Ember closes at midnight instead of at bar time.

The building is one of the oldest in the Village of Grafton, Amy said. In the early 1900s, it contained Tillman Bros. Garage, which sold and repaired Briscoe Touring Cars, and later the truck and heavy equipment repair shop Grafton Truck Line.

In 1963, Heinz Rieck opened an auto body shop in the building. His ownership was briefly interrupted when he was drafted to serve in the Vietnam War and he sold the building to Merle Wuenne for his plumbing company. Heinz bought the building back when he returned.

Nick said Ember is particularly exciting because it’s only one of many businesses bringing entertainment and events usually found in big cities to central Ozaukee County.

“It’s exciting to see young people coming in and doing creative things,” he said

The Falluccas also own the neighboring martial arts studio and a storefront that will soon house a creperie.

Nick is a third-generation family member and executive at Palermo’s Pizza, and Amy owns and runs the athleisure apparel company Comfyist and other businesses.

It costs $250 a month to rent a desk in the co-working space, $150 a month for a “drop in” space and $700 a month for a private office. The minimum amount to rent  the hall for a private event is $300.

On Friday, Nov. 15, the Falluccas will host a market featuring local, female-owned businesses from 4 to 8 p.m. From 4 p.m. to midnight on the night before Thanksgiving, Wednesday, Nov. 27, they will have a 90s-themed throwback and reunion party.