A new Dick’s Drive-In is coming to Kent! Company announces agreement to purchase property in the Midway Shopping Center, just south of the Kent-Des Moines Hwy and Highline College.

King County – On Wednesday, Jim Spady and Jasmine Donovan of Dick’s Drive-In announced that the new Dick’s Drive-In will be built in the city of Kent.

“All of the south region cities have been very welcoming. It was very difficult to pick just one winner, but we can only build one restaurant at a time,” says Jasmine Donovan, Vice President of Dick’s Drive-In and granddaughter of the co-founder and namesake, Dick Spady.

“The Kent property is in a great location on Highway 99, five miles south of SeaTac Airport. It’s a half mile south of the intersection with the Kent-Des Moines highway and very close to Highline College in Des Moines. We look forward to bringing great food and great first-time jobs to the communities of south King County,” said Jim Spady, President of Dick’s Drive-In and son of Dick Spady.

“We are incredibly excited that Dick’s Drive-In decided to locate its seventh location in Kent,” said Kent Mayor Suzette Cooke. “I so appreciate the can-do attitude by our economic development staff in addressing Dick’s criteria to invest in Kent. It is a tremendous vote of confidence for our community. What a great example of public and private sectors working together to bring an iconic family business for the public to experience and enjoy.”

The final purchase is contingent on obtaining any necessary permits from the City of Kent. “Our meetings with Kent city officials have been very positive. If everything goes well we should be able to close the sale by early 2018, begin construction in the Spring and open the first south location before the end of 2018,” Donovan says.

The new site selection process included an online customer poll that resulted in over 170,000 votes, 100,000 of which came in the first 24 hours. On March 27^th, 2017, the company announced on Facebook Live that the south region had won with 60% of the vote.

The original Dick’s Drive-In location opened in the 1954 on Northeast 45^th street in Wallingford. The most recent restaurant built was the Edmonds location which opened in 2011 after a similar customer poll directed the company to find property to the north of Seattle. The new location in Kent will maintain the original restaurant’s iconic 1950’s look and architecture.

Click HERE for our announcement video and a video of the Thunderbirds’ mascot campaigning for Dick’s Drive-In to open its next location in Kent.