Contacted by the Dayton Daily News on Saturday, Chicken Spot owner Anthony Head said he was unaware of the lawsuit and could not comment at this time.
A Dayton Daily News investigation a year ago found that the city awarded more than half a million dollars of its $138 million in federal pandemic recovery funds to community and business-related projects that failed to move forward or did not reach the finish line. However, the city rescinded most of those awards before the grant dollars were distributed.
Chicken Head
Chef Head said he wanted to convert the empty Quincy’s restaurant at 865 N. Main St. into a new restaurant called Chicken Head’s. In early 2023, the Dayton City Commission approved a $178,000 grant for the project and the city gave Head a $128,000 upfront, lump sum payment.
A city manager’s report says the money would help Head purchase two properties next to Quincy’s to create space for parking and a drive-thru lane. Other proposed grant-funded investments included architectural plans, surveys, lighting and other site and building improvements.
The grant agreement required Chicken Spot to submit monthly expenditure and progress reports and keep documentation on how it spent city funds.
The legal complaint says Chicken Spot provided documentation that accounted for about $80,000 worth of expenses, but the company has failed to provide records showing how it spent $48,000.
Attorneys for the city sent letters to Chicken Spot requesting financial documentation between the spring of 2024 and early 2025 but did not receive a response, the lawsuit says. Dayton claims that Head in early 2025 informed the city that Chicken Spot would be unable to repay the funds.
Head purchased the Quincy’s property for $330,000 in late 2021 and paid $60,000 for the adjacent home in early 2023, according to Montgomery County Auditor records.
A year ago, Head told this newspaper he was still trying to open Chicken Head’s. He used to run a business called the Chicken Spot in northwest Dayton, but that shut down in early 2021. He also operated a ghost kitchen in Kettering.
Chicken Spot was one of about 40 projects that the city awarded grants to from its $138 million in American Rescue Plan Act allocation, which was one of the largest federal grants the city has ever received. Several other projects that received awards did not pan out as planned, though their funding was never distributed.
The Dayton Recovery Plan grant funds were in high demand, as evidenced by the 140 grant applications the city received.
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