Construction fencing is up and a new restaurant is planning its opening, but Kennedy Fried Chicken does not want to leave its Market Street location.

The Buccini/Pollin Group, one of Wilmington's biggest property owners, announced that it bought the building at 2 E. 7th St. in September. The chicken restaurant, which has operated in the building for 25 years, was notified by its previous landlord, DRT Associates, LLP in August that its month-to-month lease would be terminated.

"I'm going to fight it," said the restaurant's owner Mir Wais.

A landlord-tenant trial is scheduled for Jan. 17 in Justice of the Peace Court 13.

Wais claims he has a 10-year-lease but wouldn't say when it started. Michael Hare, BPG’s senior vice president for development, said the owner hasn't "produced any evidence" of such an agreement.

The developer wants the restaurant to leave the premises as soon as possible to allow construction to begin, Hare said.

The space is intended to become Ardé Osteria, an Italian restaurant owned by the operators of Market Street's DiMeo's Pizzaiuoli Napulitani. Ardé's location in Wayne, Pennsylvania, features menu items up to $29 such as seared scallops and short rib. Owner Pino DiMeo said the Wilmington location will have similar prices and will include a bar.

Customers at Kennedy Fried Chicken on Wednesday said they'll miss the food and the local feel of the restaurant.

"This place is needed," said Regina Katz, a paralegal who lives in the Trolley Square area. "People from the community come here."

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Katz said the removal of businesses like Kennedy is a "sad part of whatever progress is."

Bonnie Foot, a 60-year-old Trolley-area resident, eats at the restaurant most days for the chicken and the company. She and her friends starting eating there after their previous meeting spot, Dunkin' Donuts, was demolished to make room for new BPG apartments at 9th and Orange Streets.

Foot's friend Sharon, who declined to give her last name, said she appreciates the restaurant, where chicken wings are 75 cents.

"It's affordable eating," she said. "They treat us with respect, and they have good food."

Foot said she'd be disappointed if the restaurant closed, but it's a sign of where the city is going.

"It's for the people with the money. They're saying, 'forget the middle and low class,'" she said. "I used to think it was about black and white, but I don't anymore. It's all about money... It's a real letdown for us."

The lawyer for DRT Associates LLP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Wais, a father of two who lives in Newark, said he feels the business his father started in 1991 is being pushed out.

"They don't want my type of clientele," he said. "They’re cleaning up Market Street, period. Most of my customers are African-American."

Hare responded: "I resent his comment."

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Wais said he pursued another location on Market Street, but the space was outbid by BPG. He said the experience makes him feel like "the big corporations are in power." He said if a judge decides he must abandon the restaurant at 7th and Market streets, he will close it and liquidate the assets.

Marty Hageman, executive director of the nonprofit Downtown Visions, said as more higher-end businesses open downtown, legacy businesses will have to consider if the customer base still works for them.

"It’ll be interesting to see if they can coexist," he said. "I’ve had conversations with business owners who say people moving downtown are not the type of people who would be their customers."

One thing is for sure, Hageman said.

"Downtown is going to change."

Contact Christina Jedra at cjedra@delawareonline.com, (302) 324-2837 or on Twitter @ChristinaJedra.