Editor’s note: Ask Us is a weekly feature published online Mondays and in print on Tuesdays. We’ll seek to answer your questions about items or trends in Rowan County. Have a question? Email it to askus@salisburypost.com.

SALISBURY — Michael Young says the former Smoke Pit location in Downtown Salisbury is like an onion.

“We keep peeling. It keeps showing items to be fixed,” Young said.

Young is owner of the building through the company LMY, Inc. When the popular barbecue restaurant left for a new location off of Faith Road, the former spot began an extensive renovation that’s split it into two storefronts. A reader asked what’s coming next to the two storefronts in the 100 block of East Innes Street.

The kitchen is getting a new floor and drains. There will also be a new floor in the “front of the house,” Young said. While wood platforms, or risers, previously leveled uneven concrete and allowed water and electricity to go underneath, they’ve been demolished. The uneven concrete was jack-hammered and removed.

With new water, electric and communications conduits installed before the new floor was installed, it will be a much more functional space, Young said.

Young said there’s a tenant lined up for the kitchen side, but that business will make an announcement when it’s ready.

The side that formerly served as Smoke Pit’s dining room saw risers below its booths removed. Floors were refinished. Walls were primed. It will be about 2,200 square feet.

Young said there’s been a “lot of inquiries on the space” with “very interesting business concepts and ideas.” Because people live on the second floor of the building, establishments with live music and late-night operations are out of the question. Young said he’s currently negotiating with a breakfast and lunch establishment.

“We are no more interested in having a tenant go out of business for lack of experience and capital as they are to fail,” Young said. “We require that all interested in the space have a business plan, experience in the type of business that they want to open and proof of financing or capital to remain viable for three years while they are building the business.”