When Sonic first established its Benton Harbor restaurant at I-94 and M-139 just over five years ago there was much anticipation about what other businesses would lock into that location which had space for at least three additional enterprises. 
Now, for the first time in that five-plus year history, a second business has begun the build out process to bring a brand new Dunkin’/Baskin-Robbins to the commercial strip center including a drive-up service window.
Brian Cronkrite from Trigo Hospitality which owns the 9,243 square foot building located at 2680 S. M-139 in Benton Charter Township, says that construction is just getting underway on the new restaurant which will anchor the 4th bay in the building, at the opposite end of the complex from the Sonic Drive-In which opened in September of 2015.
Dunkin’/Baskin-Robbins is leasing 2,750 square feet in the $4-million commercial center built in 2015. One of the key features on that end of the building is the drive-up window option which makes it very attractive to interstate traffic along I-94 for rapid access.
The new restaurant is targeted for completion by April and is owned by the same team that owns Dunkin’ Donuts in both St. Joseph and Stevensville. A principal in that firm, Haresh Patel, says they are building a new one in Bridgman at the same time, but the Benton Harbor one will be the newest of them all when it opens this spring.
Patel says, “We are really excited to bring a Dunkin’ Donuts & Baskin-Robbins to that center. It will be a great complement to Sonic in the beautiful mall that has been built in that area.”
Stay tuned.
