A restaurant is slated to open early next year at 914 Commercial St., a vacant Olde Town property the Conyers Downtown Development Authority (DDA) purchased last month.

Eleanor Johnson, owner of the Sweet & Savory Café on Klondike Road, signed a three-year lease for the space beginning Nov. 1. Johnson told the News she is not ready to talk about her plans but said she will operate restaurants at both locations.

The former Borage Grill space was purchased Oct. 14 by the DDA for $135,000, a deal discussed at the DDA’s Nov. 5 public meeting at Conyers City Hall. A copy of the lease was provided to the News at the meeting.

"The [DDA] Board felt it was a good investment," DDA Chairman Marty Jones later told the News. He said the property was originally placed on the market last year by former owners Zia and Aliya Usmani for nearly twice the final purchase price. The DDA’s purchase was contingent upon finding a tenant.

Johnson’s lease includes options to purchase the property. The rent for the roughly 1,320-square-foot property is $1,300 a month, and would increase with future lease renewals. The lease offers her the chance to buy the property in the next year for what the DDA paid, with the asking price going up to $145,000 over the following two years.

At the Nov. 5 meeting, DDA member Renee Marrett said a restaurant in the space should be popular with courthouse jurors, among other customers.