DEMOREST — A familiar downtown eatery in Demorest soon will be more active.
That's because new owners expect to take over Sweet Breads in the days to come and plan to be open 14 hours a day.
Chase and Brittney Crumley attended Tuesday's Demorest Downtown Development Authority meeting hoping to secure the DDA's approval of them taking on the contractual obligations and lease the current owners of Sweet Breads worked out with the DDA 18 months ago.
Cleveland native Chase Crumley has years of experience in the restaurant business, including the past six years at Nacocchee Village Tavern. Baton Rouge native Brittney Crumley attended Savannah College of Art and Design and also has a background in interior architecture and historic preservation. Both Crumleys have bachelor's degrees in fine art.
"The DDA met this evening to ratify an agreement between the current owners of Sweet Breads and a new set of owners that will take over the Sweet Breads name and develop a new restaurant downtown in the current Sweet Breads location," said Demorest Mayor Rick Austin.
During the meeting, DDA member Bruce Harkness asked a battery of questions to the Crumleys and to City Attorney Joey Homans regarding the proposed lease assumption by the Crumleys since he was unable to attend a previous meeting where the matter was discussed.
"The main thing is we're excited you're interested," Harkness told the couple. "The next thing is we're glad we're getting a full-time restaurant."
Chase Crumley said the restaurant hopes to develop a coffee house culture for breakfast, noting he and Brittany plan to operate a quality establishment.
"We're going to do everything fresh," he said. "I like the class, I like the upscale, I like the vibe.
"I cannot afford for it not to be done well," Chase Crumley said. "I've worked for a lot of people who have run really high-end places and in junkholes. We're going to be there hustling every day."
The DDA entered a five-year agreement with the current owners of Sweet Breads on April 17, 2015, which the Crumleys want to assume.
Austin said the restaurant's new owners will continue to pay rent to the DDA for the next 3.5 years, then the Crumleys have the option to purchase the building to free up money for other DDA projects.
That's one of the things that makes Sweet Breads attractive to the Crumleys.
"It's about owning a building at the end of five years," Chase Crumley said several times.
Should the Crumleys choose not to buy it, the city still can buy back the building.
"If they try to sell it at the end of that option, then the city has the right of first refusal," Austin said. "In other words, we get to buy it back. All of those details were hammered out in the previous agreement. It just transfers over from the previous owners to the new owners."
Austin said having a downtown restaurant with posted, regular business hours will make a difference in the city's downtown atmosphere, adding activity throughout the day and evening.
"We're excited about it as a city because it's going to bring some freshness to the restaurant and our downtown area," Austin said. "They are already successful restauranteurs. They know what it's going to take. They have the energy to do it. They're talking about being open from 7 a.m. offering breakfast fare and being open all the way until 9 p.m. and doing some more budget-friendly items on there as well as serving the same high-end farm to table fare in the evenings as well. I think it's a great opportunity for us as a city and for those individuals that have procured that restaurant."
Four of the Demorest DDA's remaining five members attended Tuesday's meeting and voted in favor of allowing the lease to transfer to the Crumleys.
DDA member Elizabeth Pyron resigned recently due to family responsibilities, while DDA member Debbie Showalter resigned for health reasons.
At Tuesday night's Demorest City Council work session, Austin asked council members to bring in names of those willing to serve in hopes the council can fill the vacancies at next Tuesday's council meeting. Qualifications for serving on the DDA including living inside the city or owning or working at a business located inside the city.
