Another Chick-fil-A for Tacoma? Records indicate the popular chain is scoping property
It appears a popular national chicken-sandwich chain has its sights set on a South End Tacoma location.
Two public records requests filed with the City of Tacoma, one from November and the other received June 12, indicate Chick-fil-A is considering a drive-thru location near Bass Pro in the Tacoma South shopping center.
Such requests are generally filed by those connected to a project as part of a due diligence process. Nathan Lodico, who submitted the latest inquiry, shows up in municipal records tied to Chick-fil-A development in other states as a representative of 4G Development & Consulting. The company on its website lists Chick-fil-A among the clients works with in real estate, development and management services.
Neither the site’s owner nor Chick-fil-A responded to questions from The News Tribune about the filings.
The latest request for information, filed last week, said that, “Chick-fil-A is interested in developing a new drive-thru only restaurant on a 0.9 acre lot within the Tacoma South Center …”
As described in the request, the proposal calls for the demolition of an existing multi-business building. The request alos sought storm-drainage information “servicing the site and surrounding shopping center,” in addition to information regarding natural-gas lines.
The center is owned by an LLC affiliated with Kite Realty Group, based in Indianapolis, which purchased the center’s collection of parcels in May 2016 for $39.4 million, according to county records.
The shopping center includes multiple retail pads as well as Floor & Decor and Bass Pro. The multi-tenant building referred to for Chick-fil-A has been home to a floral shop, a State Farm insurance office, a nail shop and a water purification vendor in recent years. A map on Kite’s website shows two of the building’s four spaces available.
The rest of the site appears leased on Kite’s site map, and other pads nearby are home to restaurants. Those include Wingstop, Round Table Pizza, Jimmy John’s and Jack in the Box.
Kite, via another LLC, also owns the Lakewood Towne Center. That site was in the news earlier this year over a proposed redevelopment near the center that would bring hundreds of apartments and affect the current Barnes & Noble location.
Chick-fil-A last year was mentioned in plans for a drive-thru at the former House of Kee site in Puyallup. A media representative for the chicken chain told The News Tribune this spring it was “still pursuing a new location in the Puyallup area,” but offered no further information.
The former House of Kee site sold in April to an entity affiliated with a neighboring landowner, who is proposing three new businesses across the parcels, including some type of fast-food drive-thru. Plans to demolish the former House of Kee building were approved by county planners this spring, records show.
If a new Chick-fil-A site on South Hosmer Street materializes, it will be the chain’s sixth in Pierce County, with other locations in Bonney Lake, Puyallup, Lakewood, Tacoma and Fircrest.
It also would be the latest in a string of new chicken-centric chain restaurants to open in the city or who have plans to open new sites.
