A local couple is buying the former Friedman's Freshmarkets grocery store on West Brady Street.

Joseph and Jacquelyn Gray announced on Wednesday that they will buy the 14,000 square-foot building and renovate it to move Gateway Engineers there from its current location on South Main Street.

Gateway Engineers will occupy 8,000 to 10,000 square feet in the front of the building, which is at 122 W. Brady St., according to a news release from Joseph Gray.

The remaining space will be made available for lease.

Gray said Gateway Engineers has outgrown its Main Street office.

“The Brady Street property suits their needs with its size and the ground-level, open floor plan,” Gray said in the release. “Gateway wishes to remain in the city and continue to serve the city and other municipalities, as well as the private engineering needs of the Butler and surrounding areas.”

Gray did not divulge the selling price, or the estimated cost of renovating the building.

The sellers are Carole Friedman Bitter and Nancy Friedman Crerar of Harold Friedman Inc.

“Jackie and I pride ourselves on saving and improving the buildings in Butler and we believe our work on the former Friedman's building will save the building and continue its productive contribution to the city,” Gray said in the release.

Jared Sullivan, past president of Butler Downtown, is thrilled with the deal.

“I think the Grays are definitely a blessing to the city of Butler,” Sullivan said. “They have put so much time and effort into our community.”

He appreciates the Grays' efforts to keep businesses in the downtown area.

“If more people had the motivation and dedication to Butler that Joe has, our city could grow exponentially,” Sullivan said. “Things are moving in a great direction, but it could happen even quicker.”

The former Friedmans supermarket chain grew from a grocery pushcart used in 1900 by Bitter's and Crerar's grandfather, immigrant Jacob Friedman.

The last stores were closed in January 2018.

Bitter claims that the closure was “due to damaging behavior by their primary wholesaler.”

A lawsuit between Harold Friedman Inc. and that wholesaler, Merchants Distributors of Hickory, N.C., is ongoing.

Former Friedman's Freshmarkets stores in Saxonburg and Chicora, plus another that Harold Friedman Inc. leased in the Greater Butler Mart, remain vacant.