Pinehurst deli owner is out, deal with new tenant imminent
By Kevin Spradlin
PeeDeePost.com
ROCKINGHAM — The owner of a Pinehurst deli said Thursday that he is not, in fact, opening a second location in Rockingham.
In June, The Pee Dee Post was the first to report that Koley Keel would bring to Richmond County and downtown Rockingham a second deli. However, Keel said Thursday that wasn’t going to happen.
Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Construction moves along on the building across from Discovery Place KIDS Thursday morning even as news of a change in tenants was revealed.
“We’re not opening the restaurant there,” Keel said in a telephone interview. “The deal changed. It wasn’t my doing.”
Keel referred all other questions to Rockingham City Manager Monty Crump.
Crump confirmed Keel’s statement and said that he is “very close with a lease with another tenant.”
Crump said the length and value of the lease, along with the amount of the tenant’s monthly payments, had been agreed upon through a handshake with a Richmond County business owner and that an announcement could be made “probably within the next two weeks.”
Any contract must be approved by the Rockingham City Council, Crump noted.
Oakboro-based Carpenter Construction was awarded the $806,831 project, funded primarily by two major grants — $475,000 from the Cole Foundation and $281,331 from the Richmond Community Foundation, with the rest from the city of Rockingham to cover administrate and design-related fees — and is on a 240-day timeline. Work is expected to be completed later this year.
Crump said he’s working with the contractor to outfit the new restaurant’s kitchen to meet the likely tenant’s requirements. He’s also working with the Richmond County Health Department to ensure the project is in compliance with all regulations.
