Grand Traverse Pie franchise to open restaurant in downtown Ann Arbor

The new tenant, Grand Traverse Pie Company, plans to start renovations immediately on the 3,185-square-foot space in the McKinley Towne Centre building, said Tom Gritter, McKinley's vice president and managing director of commercial real estate.

The deal comes about four months after @burger, a new concept started by the Michigan-based Big Boy restaurant chain, closed its East Liberty restaurant and was declared a failure.

Gritter said the Grand Traverse Pie franchise owner, Dave Ziegler, hopes to open for the upcoming holiday season. Ziegler declined to immediately comment on his plans for the restaurant.

Along with pies, the restaurant’s menu includes deli sandwiches, salads, soups and breakfast foods.

“Obviously, the restaurant is first and foremost known for pies, but they have a lot of food as well,” Gritter said. “They also do a lot of catering to businesses for lunches.”

“This fits a niche in the market,” he continued.

The space was listed with Jim Chaconas and Brendan Cavender of Colliers International for an annual rental rate of $34 per square foot. Cavender said they received extensive interest in the location.

"We had offers from everyone from large national chains to local first-time startup restaurants,” Cavender said. “We ultimately decided to choose a local Michigan company with a local Ann Arbor operator that we felt would be a good match for both the building and the Liberty corridor."

The space was particularly attractive to future tenants because of the investment @burger made in the space a year ago, Gritter said.

“It’s definitely in very good condition,” he said. “It made it easy for a tenant to move in right away.”

The Big Boy Restaurants chain started the @burger concept in Ann Arbor, hoping to eventually turn it into a national chain. However, the restaurant closed after a year on East Liberty Street.

Along with @burger and the now vacant Borders store across the street, other East Liberty Street businesses plans to close in the coming months, including Poshh boutique and This & That candy store.

But Gritter said the recent vacancies haven’t deterred people from the space.

“We had literally dozens of groups interested in the space,” he said.

There are 18 Grand Traverse Pie Company locations in Michigan and Indiana. There is another Ann Arbor restaurant, also owned by Dave Ziegler, at 291 N. Zeeb Rd.