AMERICAN barbecue restaurant Smokin' Hot n' Saucy is set to permanently expand its business into Rutherford after signing a 10-year lease.
The award-winning Texas-style barbecue business is set to operate from the site at 102 Racecourse Road at Rutherford.
The new location joins the original Newcastle venture on Maitland Road in Islington.
Commercial Collective agent Benjamin Morello said the signing of the 10-year lease followed the off-market sale of the freestanding warehouse with four units in May this year to a group of investors from the Hunter region.
Mr Morello said the lease on the 1800 square metre property at Racecourse Road allowed Smokin' Hot 'n Saucy to greatly expand its popular barbecue venue's operations.
The operators, Robert and Randi Thaves, have leased all four of the units.
Mr Morello said the property provided a "blank canvas" for the team behind Smokin' Hot n' Saucy who plan to transform the venue into an entertainment destination.
In addition to serving barbecue, the venue hopes to introduce live music, craft beer and barbeque cooking classes.
"They are going to take on all four units, so they are going to occupy the whole site," Mr Morello said.
"They will move toward internal works to open up all of the units and have different areas for various uses, so they will have the restaurant, a pickleball set up, a brewery and spaces to host cooking classes.
"They are going through all of the necessary DA approvals to get everything else that they want to do there,"
Smokin' Hot n' Saucy Barbecue is currently running a food truck in Rutherford which has gained a popular following with residents in the area.
The agent said the operators had spent years searching for a permanent site within Rutherford and Maitland.
"They've been on the hunt for a property for four years so it's fantastic that they have finally found something," he said.
"It will be a much bigger operation than the site in Islington."
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