The sun may rise once again at 571 Dartmouth Street.

Last December, after Richard Freeman purchased Sunrise Bakery’s New Bedford property, he said he was left with “heartache” at not having the finances for both properties that have been a staple to the area for over 40 years. 

However, after a year and a half of darkness at the Dartmouth Sunrise, light has broken on the horizon. 

The property, which was sold to Saul Friedman of New Bedford in January, according to Dartmouth property records, has become available again and Freeman has “jumped on” this second opportunity.

“Because I know what Dartmouth Street is worth,” Freeman said. 

Negotiations for the sale remain ongoing, and he would need to take care of business with the town and reequip the now empty building, but the hope is to reopen the location by the end of the year, with Oct. 31 being the target date, he said.

Without the Dartmouth property, the Sunrise Bakery location on Bolton Street in New Bedford “is not that great,” Freeman said.

One of the main draws of the property for Freeman is that he’ll have homemade donuts once again. 

The New Bedford property doesn’t have the capacity to do so, leaving Sunrise needing to purchase donuts elsewhere, “which wasn't good for business because that's not what Sunrise is known for.”

He added, “Sunrise is known for making their donuts fresh every day and that's what I'm trying to bring back.”

Freeman said he understands some people are upset the bakeries are no longer Portuguese-family owned. However, much has been kept the same out of respect for the former owners Manny Amaral, Inez Pacheco and Joe Amaral. 

But in addition, he said he would like to eventually bring in a concept from Taiwan of to-go boxes that include two to three meats, vegetables and rice at Dartmouth, but that wouldn’t be until at least six months after opening.

“I think it will speak for itself when I open,” Freeman said. “It will take a little bit to get it back 100% to where the Amarals had it, and I'm hoping, with their help, I'll be will be able to put the majority of that back together and show them the respect they deserve because without them there wouldn't have been a Sunrise Bakery.”

He added, “I just hope I can put a smile on their face.”