Dunkin' Donuts selects Central Entrance for first location

Yes, you did just read that headline stating that Dunkin' Donuts has actually established the location for their very first location in the Northland and potentially only the SECOND location in the entire state of Minnesota. Your donut and fresh coffee deprived eyes have not decided you and yes, you're right... you should feel proud right now to be a Duluthian. Let's all just take a moment to gather our excitement and prepare to read further.

Plans were presented recently to the Duluth Planning Commission by Land and Lease Development for a new 2,450 square foot free standing Dunkin' Donuts location to be constructed at 104 West Central Entrance. That site currently is home to Warehouse Liquor which has been open for 20+ years in that same location. This particular Dunkin' Donuts location is unique in the fact that it will feature a drive thru which is guaranteed to be successful in Northern Minnesota especially during those winter months.

Citizens of Duluth this is the moment where you should feel quite proud to call yourself a Duluthian as this will be the FIRST not only free standing Dunkin' Donuts location in the state but also the FIRST to feature a drive thru within the state. Now that is simply luxury at it's finest.

Above: Site aerial of the planned Dunkin' Donuts location (outlined in yellow) at 104 West Central Entrance. (Image provided by the Duluth Planning Commission).

Now lets get down to those niddy and gritty details. Currently Land and Lease Development is looking to have the alley that abuts this site vacated in order to allow more parking. They feel it is necessary for additional parking to be on site as this first location is expected to be very successful due in part to its location within the heart of Duluth on one of the busiest corridors in the area. The minimum number of parking spaces allowed for the Dunkin' Donuts based on the building square footage would be 12 with a possible 50% expansion to 17 total spaces. Land and Lease Development would like to include 22 spots on site and would need the adjacent alley vacated in order to do so. The alley would however not be entirely closed off and would still have access through the Dunkin' Donuts site to Central Entrance.

While the site itself has enough parking to meet the minimum requirements set forth by the city of Duluth the developers are still looking to include more as area fast food chains such as McDonald's, Burger King, and Subway have almost twice as much parking as technically needed. The developers fear that the success of the business will cause customers to park in nearby business parking lots as there will not be enough parking on site for all Dunkin' Donuts customers. A formal plan has not yet been presented for the specific details of the building itself but is expected to be within the next month.

Above: Dunkin' Donuts prototype design. (Image proved by Dunkin' Donuts).

Above: Site plan showing the exact location of the planned Dunkin' Donuts at 104 West Central Entrance (Image provided by Duluth Planning Commission)

It doesn't sound like there should be any hiccups or issues regarding this development sailing through the planning commission after alterations are made regarding the parking if the developers choose to do so. If all goes according to plan we could see construction start this winter with an opening in late spring or summer as these buildings tend to go up quite quickly.

We're working on getting you more details and will of course have the plans for the building itself as soon as we can get our development crazed fingers on them. We'll also have news on Warehouse Liquors plans for the future next week too! Until then, check back to CDINDULUTH for all the latest in development news in the Twin Ports.

Check out our previous post on Dunkin' Donuts expansion into Duluth and Superior. We've also posted about Dunkin' Donuts plans to expand in the Northland which you check out here.