South Beach Plaza, a complex of buildings being constructed in Nags Head, will include the Outer Banks' first Dunkin' Donuts, another of a number of chain restaurants in recent years that have located on the barrier islands.

Contractor Jim Geraghty with Oyster Bay Realty & Construction in Kitty Hawk said the four buildings planned for the site on U.S. 158 at milepost 10.5 will also house a 100-seat restaurant, retail shops, a bank and two other fast-food franchises.

"It's a big undertaking," he said. "We are leasing and selling spaces."

Geraghty is a partner with Mike Nolan, Bryan Sullivan, Judd White and Paul Crowley in Links Group LLC, the Kitty Hawk company that is developing the 38,000-square-foot project.

"Right now, the buildings that are up are empty shells, and we fit them out as leased to the customers' specs," he said. "It's just that it's been a tough market to get people in there."

The other two buildings should be completed and have tenants in them by fall, Geraghty said. Of them, the 3,100-square-foot building will house a bank.

The two franchises that have committed so far for the food court that will be located along with Dunkin' Donuts in the 7,200-square-foot front building are Quiznos, a sandwich shop, and Rita's, which sells Icees and smoothies.

The Dunkin' Donuts there is expected to open as soon as the first week of April, said Gregg Nigro, president of Restaurant Services of the Outer Banks. It will be the first of five of the doughnut shops that Nigro plans to build in northeastern North Carolina.

The next one to open, he said, is targeted for the first week in May at Island Land Center, a 16,000-square-foot office-retail complex being constructed in Kill Devil Hills at milepost 5.5 on U.S. 158. Oyster Bay is also the contractor on that project, Geraghty said.

A third Dunkin' Donuts, he said, will be completed somewhere in Powells Point on the Currituck County mainland by the beginning of next year. A location in Elizabeth City is in the process of being selected, but it is expected to open by early 2009.

Nigro, a Duck resident, said the fifth location has yet to be chosen. At least one of the Outer Banks shops will be operated 24 hours a day.

"Obviously, there is a lot of opportunity," he said. "Currituck and Dare are growing."

The territory that Nigro has carved out encompasses northeastern North Carolina west of the Outer Banks and from Edenton to the Virginia state line.

"We're going to have to see how these stores do," he said. "We think they're going to do very well. I can't have a store out in the middle of nowhere, but there's some flexibility where we put our fifth store."

As a fourth-generation vacationer to the Outer Banks, Nigro said he plans to make "a very large investment" in the community. He estimated that the five stores will create 100 jobs. It is Restaurant Services' first franchise.

Dunkin' Donuts started in Massachusetts in 1953 and spread to other Northern states, he said. Recently, the company launched an aggressive expansion campaign to the Western and Southern states. The menu of doughnuts, muffins, bagels, croissants and various hot and cold coffee drinks has been expanded to include flat-bread sandwiches, 8-inch personal pizzas and hash browns.

The time is ripe for the shops to come to the area, Nigro said.

"It's a real strong growth area," he said. "There's a lot of Northerners down here. There's a lot of coffee drinkers."

Catherine Kozak, (252) 441-1711, cate.kozak@pilotonline.com