What was once a longtime eyesore in Graham was bought and renovated by a local developer two years ago and has now been sold to a funeral service.
David Morton, who owns Holly Hill Mall and several strip shopping centers in Burlington and Graham, had bought the former Sagebrush restaurant at 800 South Main Street in Graham, just past I-85/40, in 2023.
Morton bought the property for $630,000 in January 2023 and sold it for $925,000 to Dignity Funeral Services in West Virginia in September 2024, based on documents that have been filed with Alamance County’s Register of Deeds to consummate the transactions.
The former restaurant property at 800 South Main Street includes a 7,604-square foot restaurant that was built on approximately 1.3 acres of land in 1980, according to the county’s tax records and GIS mapping system. The latest assessed value for the property, including the restaurant building and land, was listed at $408,229 as of January 1, 2025.
The restaurant had closed at least 10 years ago and remained vacant since, with its parking lot becoming a frequent spot for long-haul truck drivers to sleep overnight.
Morton had said in an earlier interview with The Alamance News that he’d hoped to renovate the property and sell it to a restaurant chain, possibly another steakhouse.
The property was subsequently listed for sale in the spring of 2023, following several months of renovations that included updating the inside of the building; new interior and exterior lighting; resurfacing the parking lot; and repainting the tin roof.
The previous owners had apparently just closed the doors, leaving the furnishings and kitchen equipment – right down to the pots and pans – Morton told the newspaper at the time.
The buyer, Dignity Funeral Service, is headquartered in Wheeling, West Virginia. A sign on the building identifies the future occupant as Groce Memorial Funeral Home.
The forthcoming funeral home at 800 South Main Street has no affiliation with the two longest-established funeral homes in Graham or a similarly-named funeral service in Asheville, the new owner, Jeremy Groce, confirmed for The Alamance News Wednesday morning.
Both Rich and Thompson and McClure have been long-standing companies – Rich and Thompson was founded in 1902, McClure in 1907.
Rich and Thompson Funeral & Cremation Service at 207 East Elm Street in Graham is owned by Carriage Funeral Holdings, Inc., which is based in Houston, Texas, according to the county’s tax department and Register of Deeds’ office.
McClure Funeral Service at 1030 South Main Street, Graham, is owned by McClure Funeral Properties, also based in Houston, Texas, according to documents on file with the tax department and Register of Deeds’ office.
