The Tonidandel-Brown Restaurant Group is moving forward to relocate the historic Leeper-Wyatt building on South Boulevard at 1923 South Boulevard, with plans to eventually open a new restaurant concept.
Owners Jamie Brown and Jeff Tonidandel have been approved for a rezoning petition from Charlotte City Council this week, according to the Charlotte Business Journal. The building sits on the site of an upcoming development from Southern Land Co. that would lead to the demolition of the historic building. The group will relocate the building to a nearby parking lot on Cleveland Avenue and open a new restaurant concept within.
The husband-wife duo first proposed saving the building in May to preserve bits of Charlotte’s character. Once it moves, Southern Land Company will build a mixed-use, high-rise property with 300 luxury apartments, with demolition set to begin by the end of the year. Now, the restaurant group will work with the Historic District Commission to preserve elements of the building, such as the exposed brick and beams. Once the building is moved, it will serve as a sister concept for the couple’s upcoming steak-and-surf restaurant, Leluia Hall.
“There’s a lot of people that had to come together to make this happen,” Brown and Tonidandel tell Charlotte Business Journal. “It’s going to take some sort of a miracle. Just a lot of people working together. While we don’t have specific concept ideas to share, we’re looking forward to creating a restaurant within its doors.”
This project affects the upcoming Leluia Hall, first proposed in late 2021. While plans for the former church, which dates back to 1915, have been delayed as structural issues surfaced, the delays are favorable to accommodate the Leeper-Wyatt building move. Leluia Hall, expected to open next Spring, will move forward once that building officially relocates.
Before these plans to move the Leeper-Wyatt building, it was built in 1903 and served as a grocery store until 1958 before being the home to various other businesses, including a nightclub, antique store, and business space. The building is considered the oldest surviving retail brick commercial building in Dilworth’s first business district. The restaurant group is also behind several other well-known restaurant concepts, including Supperland, Haberdish, Ever Andalo, Growlers Pourhouse, and Reigning Doughnuts.
