wilkes

Well its official you guys! We had a meeting about it today & wilkes is definitely getting it! I'm excited lol

LOOKS LIKE JC SOLD THE LAND TO THE RESTAURANT OWNER SO WORK RESUMES ... IT WILL BE OPEN IN MAYOF NEXT YEAR

I like Olive Garden's lunch special with unlimited soup (Minestrone), salad and breadsticks.

Hopefully other businesses will want to open here now as well.

TOLD YA SO!!!!!!

pete & repeat

Ok......

guess the other rumors on here were false.....

Thespian: I was just getting ready to say: May, 2012 was months ago!

May 2012?

yay! ... over priced sea bugs and horrid looking noodle dishes ... ya'll enjoy.
i will stick with home cooking

antithesis
love the sn

I'm glad it's finally happening. I heard that the Chamber of Commerce had been hiring people for several months (a friend of mine had already quit his job because he thought it was definite), and those people have just been sitting around now, waiting.

so i have to wait another year to use my gift certificate :/

I guess the Bankruptcy Judge finally OK'd the sale of the property. JC cannot sell anything without the Judge's approval

may 2013

Orlando-Fla.-based Darden Restaurants Inc. this week broke ground for construction of a combination Red Lobster and Olive Garden restaurant on U.S. 421 West in Wilkesboro, said Darden spokesman Rich Jeffers.

Wilkes Register of Deed records show Wilkesboro businessman J.C. Faw sold the identified site of the restaurant to GMRI Inc., a subsidiary of Darden Restaurants, this week. It�s on the north side of U.S. 421, near but not adjoining the intersection of U.S. 421 and Dancy Road.

Jeffers said the new restaurant is expected to open in May, with about 200 employees working in different shifts.

Darden already has combination Red Lobster and Olive Garden restaurants in Beaufort, S.C., Brunswick, Ga., Waycross, Ga., and Palm Coast, Fla.

Jeffers said there will soon be another combination Red Lobster and Olive Garden in Thomasville, Ga., making the one in Wilkesboro the sixth when it opens.

Gary D. Blevins, chairman of the Wilkes County commissioners, also announced the closing of the deal for the new restaurant at his board's meeting Tuesday night. Blevins referred to issues being worked out.

One issue that had to be addressed was the new restaurant's access to U.S. 421.

Wilkesboro Town Manager Ken Noland said access to the new restaurant would be via a new Kennedy Street, which will connect with U.S. 421. Noland said another new street will be built from Kennedy Street to Dancy Road.

Earlier this year, Wilkes County commissioners unanimously approved economic incentive payments to Darden on the condition that it spend at least $3.5 million on land, construction and equipment and add at least 90 fulltime jobs on the new restaurant operation.

The agreement calls for county government to give Orlando, Fla.-based Darden Restaurants Inc. about $53,000 over five years, beginning Sept. 15, 2013, in return for Darden making the expenditures and adding the jobs by Jan. 1, 2013, for a �combination restaurant.�

The county�s first payment of $11,190.77 to the company is due by Sept. 15, 2013, a second payment of $10,898.94 by Sept. 15, 2014, a third payment of $10,578.78 by Sept. 15, 2015, a fourth payment of $10,370.41 by Sept. 15, 2016; and a sixth payment of $10,100.07 by Sept. 15, 2017.

The county agreement says that if the company failed to make the capital investment or add the 90 new jobs, appropriations from the county would be reduced by a pro-rated amount.

The Wilkesboro town council approved an incentive agreement mirroring what the county required from Darden in return for giving Darden a total of $45,781 in five payments during the same five-year period.

County Attorney Tony Triplett said the $53,000 is about 50 percent of the property taxes that Darden would pay to the county during the five years of incentive payments to the company. Triplett said the amount the town would pay Darden is about 70 percent of the company�s town taxes.

Triplett said the incentive agreement kicked in when Darden bought the property and that the company wouldn�t didn�t have to list the property for taxes until Jan. 1, 2013.

A Darden spokesman earlier projected annual sales of $5.5 million at the restaurant, based on drawing customers from a region extending 15 to 20 miles away and travelers on U.S. 421. He called Darden�s Wilkesboro project was the company�s way of opening smaller versions of restaurants in markets that otherwise couldn�t support them.

Wilkes Economic Development Director Jeff Garstka said $5.5 million annually would generate about $125,000 each year in retail sales tax revenue, which would be divided among the Wilkes County, Wilkesboro, North Wilkesboro and Ronda governments. Amounts to each are based on population.

http://www.journalpatriot.c...f6878.html

I think they have missed that opening date by almost 4 months and counting.

They ARE coming. Opens in May 2012 with 200 employees.