By VANESSA HUGHES
Sun Staff

Scott Landman poses with his wife, Mariclaire Hession, and daughter, Ava Hession-Landman, outside the Brass Lantern on Middle Street in Lowell. Landman and Hession plan to open Higher Ground, a casual coffee house and music venue, at the location. Pending sale of the building, expected to close by the first week of June, they'll start construction in a few weeks and hope to be open for business by September 1. Sun Photo/MICHAEL PIGEON.

LOWELL Scott Landman was in the right place at the right time just when things seemed to be going wrong.

After 10 years working in high tech, Landman was laid off from his job at Cisco Systems in Chelmsford last spring. He and wife, Mariclaire Hession, were expecting their first child, Ava, and after taking some time off, Landman needed to determine his next step.

"My industry was hanging on ropes. Nobody was hiring," said Landman, 38. "I was wandering around downtown Lowell wondering what I was going to do with my life, thinking I wish there was a coffee house where I could stop and think. And boom! It hit me."

Landman and Hession are now preparing to open Higher Ground, a casual coffee house and music venue to replace Callahan's Brass Lantern Pub at 194 Middle St. Pending sale of the building, expected to close by the first week of June, they'll start construction in a few weeks and hope to open for business by Sept. 1.

The Lowell residents thought of opening a coffee house downtown a few years ago, but the space they wanted on Middle Street was taken, and the idea faded. This time, the cards fell into place.

Carolyn and Michael DeLuca, who are ironing out plans to purchase 194 Middle St., asked the city to help them recruit a new business for the first floor. Carolyn said she had envisioned a coffee house there, and the match with Landman and Hession's vision was instant.

"If I hadn't been able to open a coffee house, I wouldn't know what else I would have done," Landman said. "We happened to be in right place at the right time. We just got lucky."

"Fate just said, 'Here, this is what you're going to get,'" added Hession, 37.

Higher Ground will offer a variety of coffees, teas and baked goods, but it will not resemble a Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts, they say. The coffee house will be designed as a "homey" place where customers can hang out all afternoon on overstuffed couches or sip expresso late into the night.

A stage will provide room for live music acts and poetry slams, and Higher Ground will be open from early morning until around 10 to 11 p.m.

"My vision for it is very simply that I would like people to feel like they're walking into somebody's home, that they can make a second home," Hession said.

The couple plan to divide the interior into three areas, each offering customers varying degrees of privacy. Artwork will adorn the brick walls, and Landman and Hession hope to partner with other organizations in the neighborhood to host community events.

"That corner of Lowell with us, the lofts, gallery, Revolving Museum and Quilt Museum it's just a really nice part of town. All of us in the area have already started speaking about what we can do together to get people into Lowell and into that specific part of Lowell," Landman said.

Higher Ground fits well into what the city envisions for the area, added Jim Cook, executive director of the Lowell Development and Financial Corp., which is helping to fund the business.

"I think it's great. It's a nice mix of what's on Middle Street already," Cook said. "This certainly seems to fit the whole artist lifestyle. It's more like a Greenwich Village coffee house than a Starbucks."

The new coffee house will serve as an alternative to going to bars, where people of all ages can enjoy themselves on a Saturday night out with friends or a Sunday afternoon with kids, the owners said.

"One of my biggest qualms was that there is nowhere to go in Lowell after a certain time of day that is not in a bar atmosphere," Hession said.

Neither Landman nor Hession has run a business. They also have never worked in coffee shops. But they've spent the last decade practically living in coffee houses and know what makes this type of business work, Landman said. The skills he developed at his old job working in business development at Cisco will also help.

"I've never brewed a cup of coffee before or pulled an expresso, but I understand all of the other stuff:how to target the right market, how to advertise and market the business," he said.

Both look forward to being their own bosses and to involving 1-year-old Ava in their day-to-day professional lives.

Plus there's the coffee.

Waiting to sink their teeth into renovations, Landman and Hession are now working with a "master roaster," sampling brews to determine which to include on their menu. That part of the job comes easy, Landman said.

"We love coffee: Love it, love it, love it."

Vanessa Hughes' e-mail address is vhughes@lowellsun.com .

Vanessa Hughes' e-mail address is vhughes@lowellsun.com.

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