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10 N. Adams St. in Ypsilanti will soon house a Yemeni restaurant.

(Photo Courtesy of Brian Robb)

A new Yemeni restaurant is planned for a downtown Ypsilanti building that has sat vacant for around 30 years.

Ypsilanti developer C. Hedger Breed, who represented the buyer, Mohammed Fayad, said there is no timeline for its opening, but construction is underway.

"He's in a hurry. He wants to open yesterday," Breed said. "We're going to breathe new life into it. It's exciting."

Fayad purchased the building, at 10 N. Adams St., for $82,000 from Jim Pate. Pate also used to own the Smith Furniture building, and, like the 10 N. Adams property, the Smith sat unused and deteriorating while Pate owned it.

City records show the property was on the city's dangerous buildings list, and Pate was cited eleven times for code violations in 2013 and 2014.

Breed said Fayad already repaired a leaking roof, remediated mold and completed a full interior demolition. Fayad couldn't immediately be reached by The Ann Arbor News.

City records show the property's assessed value at $34,000, and Pate purchased the building in 1974 for $30,000. It's not clear from city records whether the taxes are current.