PORT ANGELES — Two businesses in one building are rising from the ashes of the landmark New Peking restaurant and lounge in a $1.2 million project.
The 2416 E. U.S. Highway 101 night spot burned to the ground in a July 5, 2011, fire that also destroyed a Port Townsend muralist’s creation.
Four years later, work is proceeding on a 7,700-square-foot structure that will house a second local branch of E-Z Pawn Inc., which will keep open its 26,000-square-foot downtown store, owner Ted Connely said Monday.
Also at the building site just east of the city limit will be Capital Advance, a check-cashing and payday loan business owned by E-Z Pawn that will move from 901 E. First St. at the intersection with Race Street.
Connely, 73, and his late wife, Emily, opened E-Z Pawn at its present 113 W. First St. location in 1982.
“I started with $250 to my name,” the Nebraska native and Beaver resident said.
“I came a long way since then.
“It took years and years and years to get my head above water.”
The project should be completed by spring, store manager Brian Winters, 39, said last week.
“We’ve got to keep growing as a company,” he said.
Connely and Winters — who is Connely’s stepgrandson — said Capital Advance has avoided the pitfalls of most check-cashing and payday loan stores, many of which have been regulated out of business.
“We make sure the loan is the appropriate amount and make sure they can pay back their loans,” Winters said.
“That’s why we are about the only one left standing.”
Connely said Capital Advance gives borrowers longer to pay and allows them to make payments on their loans.
Connely said he has helped many entrepreneurs start their own businesses or helped them bridge revenue gaps during lean times.
“In the community, I’m kind of like a poor man’s bank,” he said.
Jewelry and firearms are popular items at the pawn shop.
Connely said he loses money on most transactions.
“But I make so many deals, I still make a little, because I deal for volume,” he said.
No one was injured at the New Peking during the fire that began at about 3:20 a.m. the morning after July Fourth in 2011.
The blaze shut down all four lanes of Highway 101 until about 8:40 a.m. July 5.
Post-holiday commuters were detoured through nearby Gales Addition while firefighters from Clallam County Fire Districts Nos. 2 and 3 and the Port Angeles Fire Department fought the flames.
The building, known for a signature dragon mural painted by Port Townsend artist James Mayo in 2005, was purchased by the Kevin Fong family in 1985 and became a haven for pool players and home to two pool leagues.
Ted Connely and his wife, Brenda, purchased the approximately 0.7-acre parcel from the Peking China Corp. in February 2014 for $130,000, according to the county Assessors’ Office.
The Connelys transferred the property to EZP East LLC this year.
The site is situated in the county’s urban growth area, established in 1995.
“This is a commercial zone, and it’s good to put a new business on a vacant lot,” said Steve Gray, deputy director of the county Department of Community Development.
“It’s a good thing for our economic development.
“It definitely helps to infill businesses.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
