Turkish-born entrepreneur Metin Yildiz has bought the landmark Esplanade hotel in Devonport and is bringing his Mecca cafe chain to the North Shore suburb.
Yildiz took ownership of the historic hotel, which was built in 1903, last week.
He would not say how much the building cost.
The Esplanade will runas usual, with one exception: one side will be turned into a Mecca cafe.
Over time, says Yildiz, small changes may be made to the running of the hotel.
Mecca is a chain of seven cafes in Auckland, five of them owned by Yildiz and his business partners and the other two owned independently.
The cafes are located in hotspots such as The Chancery, Viaduct Harbour, Newmarket and Mission Bay.
Yildiz says he wants to keep control of what is served at the cafes and will consider franchising the business in future, which would probably take the chain beyond Auckland.
Yildiz, who came to New Zealand from Turkey 16 years ago, started the Mecca chain nine years ago.
