Construction Begins on the new Dick’s Drive-In in Kent with ground breaking ceremony!
King County – On Tuesday, April 3rd at 11:30AM members of the Spady family, Dick’s Drive-Ins employees, the Mayor of the City of Kent and five memory fan winners will break ground on the new Dick’s Drive-In’s in Kent, located 24220 Pacific Highway South, in the Midway shopping center, next to Lowe’s.
“We’re so excited to begin construction,” says Jasmine Donovan, Executive Vice President of Dick’s Drive-In and granddaughter of the co-founder and namesake, Dick Spady. “For our fans in south King County we know it’s been a long wait and we thank you for your patience. We want to thank everyone at the City of Kent for all of their hard work in helping us reach this milestone.”
“It’s a great day for our company! We look forward to bringing great food and great first-time jobs to the communities of south King County with the opening of this new location in the fall,” said Jim Spady, President of Dick’s Drive-In and son of Dick Spady.
“Dick’s Drive-in has been a Seattle icon since the 1950s. We are beyond excited that the Dick’s family has chosen Kent as its next location, and we are honored to be a part of today’s event. I am sure the entire Kent community joins me in welcoming Dick’s to Kent’s West Hill. We can’t wait to order our first Dick’s Deluxe burger and fries so close to home, and we wish you many years of success!” – Mayor Dana Ralph, City of Kent
When Dick’s announced last March that they wanted to open a seventh location, once again they let their fans decide where to go. 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 27th, 2017, the company announced on Facebook Live that the south region had won with 60% of the vote.
When it came down to finding the right site, Dick’s Drive-In enlisted the help of a great team from the Kidder Matthews’ Tacoma office, Jeff Kraft and Cramer Foster.
The original Dick’s Drive-In location opened in the 1954 on NE 45th 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.
We are also excited that Highline Community College student body president Vanessa Primer and Cool Bird will be joining us. 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.