Just a short walk down Mill Avenue to the south will take this walking tour to its third destination: the Andre Building at 401 S. Mill Avenue. The building gets its namesake from its original developer, R.G. Andre, a prominent businessman and active member of the Tempe community. Opened in 1888, before, as always in Tempe, burning in 1899, and reopening again in 1900, the building operated as a saddlery under the skill of Andre himself. Over the years, the Andre Building was home to many different businesses including Price Wickliffe's Furniture and Undertaker in the early 1910s and 1920s, the U.S. Post Office from 1917 to 1947, and the Masonic Lodge from 1917 to 1953. Prior to its most recent incarnation, the building housed Paradise Bar and Grill until 1999.

 

After a devastating fire in 1999, Irish pub Rula Bula became its next and most recent tenant, serving Tempe’s residents as a mainstay of Mill Avenue’s bar scene for more than 20 years. In 2000, Guinness built the pub’s interior in its entirety in Ireland, before shipping it to the United States for use inside of the Andre Building. Juxtaposed against the Victorian architecture of the building’s exterior, the Irish interior made the Andre Building one of the most interesting structures along Mill Avenue. It became very popular in a downtown with ever changing businesses, and even boasted Arizona State legend Pat Tillman as a regular before he passed.   

​

Today, the Andre Building lies empty due to the recent nonrenewal of its lease by the owners, Wexford Development Company. After lease disputes in 2019, Wexford sought other tenants before negotiations could continue, ultimately forcing Rula Bula out in June of 2021. A large going away-esque party was thrown in honor of Rula Bula’s closing for St. Patrick's Day in 2021, giving the business a warm sendoff. This event encapsulates the next stages of Mill Avenue’s life quite well, one that depicts continuous corporate entry into what is seen by developers as a booming opportunity in a college town. Wexford Development Company is one not local to Tempe, or even Arizona for that matter, and has purchased multiple buildings for lease and development along Mill Avenue in recent years, a prime example of what is to come along the downtown Tempe street.