New owners on menu
Development group takes over as city seeks buyers for MacGregor’s
News editor
MacGregor’s is no more.
Former owners Joe and EJ Pickett signed over the failed restaurant last week to creditor South Central Kansas Economic Development District, which gave them two loans totaling $60,000.
“It’s in SCKEDD’s possession,” Marion economic development director Randy Collett said Tuesday. “They will be responsible for listing and selling it.”
The Pickets obtained $115,000 in loans and spent more than a year working on the building before opening May 26.
County records list the property’s appraised value at $49,250.
A state fire marshal closed the restaurant June 5 because fire suppression and ventilation systems in the kitchen weren’t installed, and it never reopened.
In addition to direct loans, SCKEDD also underwrote $40,000 in loans from the Marion e-Community program, Collett said. The Picketts also received a $15,000 Department of Agriculture microloan through the county.
Collett said he contacted restaurant industry friends in Kansas City to tell others who might have an interest in buying and operating the restaurant. He was uncertain whether SCKEDD would try to sell the building immediately to recoup its losses or hold out for a viable restaurant operator.
“I suspect they’ll be looking to us for assistance, and I’ll be happy to provide that,” Collett said.
If the building is sold and any money remains after SCKEDD’s loans are settled, the $15,000 microloan would be next, then the $40,000 e-Community loan, Collett said.
SCKEDD lending officer Christie Henry did not return a call.
Last modified July 20, 2017