DEDC seeks Burrito tenant

Now that the owners of the vacant Wicked Burrito restaurant are putting the finishing touches on the building’s exterior repair, the town has another favor to ask: Put the building back in use.

Workers have been making repairs to the restaurant at 214 W. Franklin St. since mid-February, replacing torn awnings, giving the exterior a new paint job and removing the Burrito nameplate.

The Downtown Economic Development Corporation reignited interest in the building, vacant since January 2000, when it asked Kansas-based owners Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon Inc. in a February letter to act on the site.

The town Inspections Department later contacted Lone Star as well.

Lone Star Executive Vice President John White said Monday that repairs are coming to a close.

“I think we’re pretty much done with the exterior,” he said.

The town and a Lone Star representative next will conduct an interior inspection, White said.

But a March 14 letter from Town Manager Cal Horton to Lone Star Chief Executive Officer Jamie Coulter pushes another point.

“What is more important … is getting a useful occupancy in the building,” the letter states.

Corporation Chairwoman Andrea Rohrbacher said again Monday that she would prefer to see someone using the property.

“I’m pleased that they’re making renovations, but we’d really like to have a tenant,” she said.

Horton’s letter acknowledges what White has reiterated — that the company doesn’t intend to give up the property — but charges the company to either set up a franchise or rent out the building.

A forthcoming Lone Star franchise in Durham’s New Hope Commons could sway decisions regarding the vacant Burrito, said corporation Interim Executive Director Nick Didow.

“If Lone Star is locating a steakhouse in the vicinity, that may make leasing the Wicked Burrito site … even more possible,” he said.

Didow acknowledged that the Durham franchise’s popularity also could inspire the company to retain the Burrito property.

One organization, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Children’s Museum, already has asked Lone Star to lease the building for its museum.

The group tentatively hopes to open this fall, but co-founder Jonathan Mills said the beginning of next year might be more realistic.

Site Committee Chairman Christopher Rice said the museum would like a space for a few years while finding a permanent location.

Although it plans to contact the company again next week, the museum is not waiting for Lone Star to make a move, Mills said.

“It’s their property, they have the right to do what they want,” he said. “It would be a wonderful opportunity, but we don’t want to put all our eggs in one basket.”

He noted that the museum is considering multiple locations.

The Town Council is scheduled to hear a report on the Wicked Burrito space at its April 5 meeting.

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.