Business & Tech
Quick Start on Constructing Pure Taqueria in Duluth
Ground broken for new downtown restaurant, excavation of site underway
Duluth officials and Pure Taqueria franchisees broke ground this week for the long-awaited restaurant being built in downtown Duluth next to the Red Clay Theatre. Downtown merchants also joined in the ceremony.
Pure Taqueria franchisees Rich Dennis and Bill Weaver of Alpharetta-based Pure Investments and Weaver’s brother-in-law Randy Ensch of Dallas, TX, are developing the 2700-square-foot Mexican-style cantina at 3108 Main Street on the corner of Georgia Hwy. 120.
Dennis and Bill Weaver also own the Inman Park location of Pure Taqueria in Atlanta.
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This will be the fourth Pure Taqueria restaurant in Georgia and the fifth overall since 2005 for the franchise created by successful Alpharetta-based restaurateurs Chris Sedgwick and John Kibler, according to Duluth Economic Development Manager Chris McGahee.
“The city of Duluth has welcomed us like we are family, and we can’t wait to start contributing to the local economy,” said Dennis.
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Dennis was part of a group of 20 or so that gathered on the site with shovels to turn over ground for the new restaurant Monday (Feb. 7) afternoon. “We had and hour and half to get this together and look at the turnout,” he said.
“We are as excited about Pure (Taqueria) as they seem to be about us,” said Councilman Greg Whitlock.
The contractor planned to begin moving dirt on Tuesday, a couple of days sooner than expected, necessitating the quick ceremony. Excavation of the site is now well underway.
“We can’t wait for all the new patrons the restaurant will bring to the downtown especially after 5 p.m., said Shelly Howard, a member of the Duluth Downtown Development Authority who participated in the ground-breaking ceremony.
The DDA and the franchisees finalized the sale of the city-owned property on Jan. 28. The city had authorized the DDA to sell or lease the property for the restaurant.
The Pure Taqueria, expected to bring 550 diners to downtown Duluth a day, is scheduled to open in early May in time for Cinco de Mayo (May 5).
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