Sports bar to anchor plaza: Restaurant plans June opening

0
1155

GREENFIELD — A sign has stood at the site for months, promising new business.

Now, developers have announced plans for the 14,000-square-foot plaza coming to the corner of Melody Lane and East Muskegon Drive: a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant with room for at least four other retailers.

Pride Investment Partners, a Hancock County-based real estate development firm, announced Wednesday the signing of a long-term lease with Greenfield Wings LLC, a Buffalo Wild Wings franchise. The restaurant will be in the new Melody Plaza Shopping Center south of Walmart and north of Planet Fitness.

The firm plans to break ground before the end of the year, with construction completed by June. The restaurant, which will feature big-screen TVs, a full bar and outdoor seating, should open by summer 2018, according to a news release.

“We are excited to bring a new restaurant offering to Greenfield,” said Keith White, Partner and Vice President of Pride Investment Partners. “Buffalo Wild Wings has a long history of success, and we look forward to partnering with them in our new Melody Plaza Shopping Center.”

Buffalo Wild Wings boasts locations throughout central Indiana, including in downtown Indianapolis, Lawrence and Anderson. Those three stores employ an average of 75 employees each, store managers said. The nearby store in the Washington Square Mall closed earlier this year.

Buffalo Wild Wings was founded in 1982 by Jim Disbrow and Scott Lowery, who opened their first restaurant on the campus of Ohio State University, according to a news release. The brand has grown to some 1,230 restaurants worldwide and is now led by CEO Sally Smith, who took the helm in 2014.

The sit-down sports bar likely will have the biggest footprint in the new shopping center, Pride officials said. The firm is seeking four other tenants for the shopping center, said Stephanie White-Longworth, CEO of Pride Investment Partners.

Buffalo Wild Wings is planned to cover about 5,000 square feet, leaving 9,000 square feet for the other four storefronts, including one owners hope will attract a fast food joint because it will feature a drive-thru window, White-Longworth said. Officials wanted to finalize the lease agreement and design plans with Buffalo Wild Wings before moving forward with other tenants, she said.

Pride Investment Partners has owned the property since August 2016, when its leaders partnered with a holding company to turn the former Lee and Ryan Consulting building — located south of the proposed new retail center — into a Planet Fitness.

The development firm hoped to break ground on the shopping center in May and be open for business by August, but the project was delayed during negotiations between Pride and Buffalo Wild Wings on the lease agreement, White-Longworth said.

Area residents were abuzz with speculation about what could take root in the new shopping center, and Pride sought input from the public on what community members would like to have in Greenfield. Buffalo Wild Wings was near the top of that request list, White-Longworth said.