MANITOWOC, WIS. — Panera Bread has signed a 4,300-square-foot lease in Manitowoc, about 40 miles southeast of Green Bay. The fast casual restaurant will occupy the space at 4626 Calumet St. Joe Kleiman and Dan Cohen of Mid-America Real Estate-Wisconsin LLC represented Panera in the lease transaction. The landlord was not disclosed.
VICTORVILLE, CALIF. — Cracker Barrel Old Country Store has opened its newest location in Victorville, which is the first Cracker Barrel store to open in the Golden State. The restaurant combines dining and shopping. Each Cracker Barrel location is decorated with authentic artifacts, memorabilia and signage collected by a team of Americana experts. In Victorville, Cracker Barrel’s new store celebrates the history and culture of the local area through decorative walls that pay homage to the famous Route 66, the area’s contributions to the film industry and to California’s Gold Rush era. Guests can also shop in the old country store for toys, games, food items, apparel, accessories and other items. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc. was established in 1969 in Lebanon, Tenn. Cracker Barrel and its affiliates operate 649 company-owned Cracker Barrel Old Country Store locations in 45 states and own the fast-casual Holler and Dash restaurants.
HOUSTON — An undisclosed private investor will develop Lyric Market, a 31,500-square-foot food hall that will be located at the corner of Louisiana and Preston streets in downtown Houston. The development includes the construction of an 801-space parking garage. Set to open this fall, the concept will include a bakery, sushi bar, ice cream shop and wine and cocktail bars. Matthew Putterman of HFF arranged an undisclosed amount of construction financing on behalf of the developer through Origin Bank.
ATLANTA — Arby’s Restaurant Group Inc. has completed its $2.9 billion acquisition of Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. As part of the transaction, the company launched a new restaurant company known as Inspire Brands Inc. The company will oversee the growth of Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings and an emerging brand, R Taco. More than 4,600 company-owned and franchised restaurants across 15 countries are within Inspire’s portfolio. The combined global sales of its restaurants in 2017 exceeded $7.6 billion. “We believe the time is right to create a different kind of restaurant company — one with a broad portfolio of distinct brands across a full spectrum of restaurant occasions,” says Paul Brown, CEO of Inspire Brands. “Our goal is to build an organization that leverages the benefits of scale, not only to save cost, but also to enable outsized investments in long-term growth initiatives.” Inspire is designed to enable each individual brand to benefit from and build off the strengths of the others. Brown of Arby’s and Neal Aronson of Roark Capital Group, a private equity firm, co-founded Inspire. The company’s headquarters will be based in Atlanta with a support center in Minneapolis. Founded in 1964, Atlanta-based Arby’s is a sandwich restaurant …
OAHU, HAWAII — Jersey Mike’s Subs opened its first restaurant on a military base, with a new location at Schofield Barracks in Oahu. The company plans to open restaurants at two other military installations in 2018. The 490-square-foot sub shop, located in the Army & Air Force Exchange Service food court, is staffed almost entirely by local residents connected to service members at the installation. The Schofield Barracks location is the 54th Jersey Mike’s restaurant for franchise owner Alvaro Garcia, whose other locations are in California and Hawaii. Started in 1956, Jersey Mike’s now has 1,500 restaurants open and under development nationwide.
CHICAGO — McDonald’s has unveiled exterior and interior designs for the brand’s flagship restaurant at Clark and Ontario streets in Chicago. The former rock ‘n’ roll-themed restaurant closed in late December. The new restaurant will feature self-order kiosks, table service and mobile order and payment. The nearly 19,000-square-foot restaurant, designed by Chicago-based Ross Barney Architects, will be constructed of steel and wood timber. The restaurant will feature green spaces and energy-saving features in efforts to become LEED certified. The redesigned restaurant is slated to reopen this spring. McDonald’s is also in the process of moving its headquarters to Chicago from Oak Brook, Ill.
FISHERS, IND. — Sun King Brewery has unveiled plans for the development of a new specialty production craft brewery and taproom at The Yard at Fishers District in Fishers, a northern suburb of Indianapolis. The 13,000-square-foot brewery is slated to open in late spring 2019. Sun King will focus on developing handcrafted, specialty beers that continue to experiment with different ingredients, styles and methods at the new brewery. The new location will be capable of producing approximately 5,000 barrels of beer per year. Customers will be able to purchase carryout beer and taste samples at the two-level brewery, which will also feature a 3,000-square-foot rooftop patio. Thompson Thrift Retail Group is the developer and landowner of The Yard at Fishers District.
WESTWOOD VILLAGE, CALIF. — Kennedy Wilson has brokered the a $2.7 million retail lease for The Waffle, located at 10925 Weyburn Ave. in Westwood Village. Owned by Gain Polone and John Papsidera, the restaurant is moving into the space formerly occupied by Jerry’s Deli. The modern casual restaurant offers breakfast and lunch options. Christine Deschaine of Kennedy Wilson represented the landlord, Tucker Investment Group, while Newmark Knight Frank represented the restaurant.
BOISE, IDAHO — Tropical Smoothie Cafe, a fast-casual cafe concept, opened 101 new cafes in 2017 and signed 187 agreements that will grow the brand’s footprint in markets nationwide. The company aims to reach 1,000 locations by 2020. In its 20th anniversary year, Tropical Smoothie Cafe reached milestones including the opening of its first location in Idaho, 50th in Michigan and 630th cafe overall. Amidst the ongoing growth throughout 2017, Tropical Smoothie Cafe also appointed six industry veterans including Rob Collins as chief marketing officer, Pete Ward as general counsel, Paul Marsden as chief financial officer, Jaime Denney as senior vice president of operations, Cheryl Fletcher as vice president of franchise development strategy and Kristi Kingery as vice president of supply chain.
KANSAS CITY, MO. — Copaken Brooks has completed the lease-up of the retail space at its Town Pavilion office building in Kansas City. The property totals 840,642 square feet with 30,372 square feet of first-floor retail space. Three new tenants — Johnny C’s Deli & Pasta, Chick N Pie and Ruby Jean’s Juicery — have signed leases at the property. Johnny C’s is a local Italian deli that serves pastas, sandwiches and salads. Chick N Pie will occupy the space formerly home to Pizza Hut and KFC Express. The quick-service concept, from the same owners of Plowboys BBQ, serves chicken, burgers, pizza and salads. Ruby Jean’s Juicery specializes in smoothies, juices, performance shakes and snacks. The company has five other locations.