Plans are underway to reactivate three historic buildings along Grand Avenue in Phoenix.
The Phoenix City Council will be asked Wednesday afternoon to approve a $100,000 grant for the property on the corner of Ninth and Grand avenues.
The former Durand Grocery was built in 1915 and is believed to be the oldest remaining storefront on Grand. The other two were built in the ’30s and housed Villegas Shoe Repair and Robison Cleaners.
The owners, Lorenzo and Margaret De La Cruz, plan to open a handmade tortilla shop in the former grocery and a restaurant in the other two buildings. It would be the second location for the De La Cruzes restaurant, Original Burrito Company. They estimate it will cost $1.6 million to reactivate the historic buildings.
If the council approves the grant, the $100,000 will support the estimated $389,797 for a full structural repair with steel reinforcement of the Durand Grocery Building, new storefront glazing/doors and paint removal for all three buildings.
