- ‘Central Perk’ is a code name for an upscale restaurant brand officials say could expand with a site plan approved last year.
Lebanon is prepared to provide up to $1.5 million in incentives to an as-yet-unnamed sit-down restaurant to open in the city in response to resident demand for more family-style dining.
The deal is so shrouded in secrecy, it has a code name: Central Perk — a moniker made famous as the cafe in the TV show “Friends.” The brand of restaurant has not been confirmed but early construction plans have been approved.
“While I cannot name the company, this project will bring what citizens have been asking for since I have been mayor,” Mayor Rick Bell said. “People want dining options and it is our job to recruit those options.”
The funds would come from hotel/motel taxes set aside for economic and tourism development.
Such a deal appears to be the largest of its kind in Lebanon and is rare because major economic-development incentives — in the form of cash grants or tax breaks — are usually reserved for large projects that will create a lot of jobs and economic returns.