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Billy Oakley (left) and Seth Boyd plan to open Locals' at the corner of Walton Avenue and Winchester Road.
The blossoming National Avenue corridor is about to welcome a key new tenant, with plans to turn the high-profile corner of Walton Avenue and Winchester Road into a showpiece gateway into the area.
Locals’ is a bar and restaurant concept being developed by Seth Boyd and Billy Oakley. Friends since high school, the pair are mining their deep experience in working for and managing area restaurants, including stints at Applebee’s, Turf Catering, Grey Goose, Cheapside and others. If all goes according to plan, Boyd and Oakley said, Locals’ should be open by the end of June.
“I want to do it right,” Boyd said. “We’re thinking about the next 25 years, not just getting it open as soon as we can.”
Walker Properties, which has developed several buildings in the area, is working to repurpose the existing concrete block building that most recently housed a liquor store. The plans call for extensive work. Among the features will be the addition of three garage-style doors to the National Avenue-facing side of the building to add space and airflow, the installation of a steel superstructure over the building to create a second-story outdoor deck area, a new parking lot and extensive landscaping and outdoor seating at street level.
The redeveloped parcel will provide an upgrade to a major entryway into the burgeoning neighborhood. It sits across from National Provisions Beer Hall, a European-style bar and restaurant, and its connected bakery and coffee shop, National Boulangerie, both operated by Table 310 owners Krim Boughalem and Andrea Sims.
Boyd said that far from fearing tough competition between Locals’ and Provisions Beer Hall, he expects both establishments to benefit.
“I see two different groups coming to this area for each location,” Boyd said. “All that’s going to do is, we’ll get them a new customer base, they’re going to give us a new customer base. We’re not going to be white table cloth.”
Boyd and Oakley said Locals’ will focus on local craft beer, in addition to spirits and cocktails. Darren Pirozzi will be chef, with a focus on an array of American cuisine.
The project is the latest ushered in by Walker Properties, which has guided the development of the area near the popular Kenwick and Mentelle neighborhoods. The area, recently profiled in the New York Times, is home to new fitness centers, art studios and homewares stores, in addition to restaurants.
“All the plans they have for the rest of the street are really neat,” Boyd said. “So we’re getting in on the ground floor. That’s what we wanted over here.”