Chick-fil-A acquires Columbus Park Crossing site, to demolish existing building

A week after opening a new Chick-fil-A restaurant on Manchester Expressway, the Georgia-based company has acquired a prime piece of property in Columbus Park Crossing and is prepared to open a new store, said Steven Cadranel, president and owner of Arris Realty Partners.

Chick-fil-A purchased the property at 5520 Whittlesley Blvd., late last week for an undisclosed price from Gene Meszaros, who owned and operated a Shogun restaurant on the site for 10 years. The parcel is in front of the shopping area where Dick’s Sporting Goods is located.

“Chick-fil-A intends to demolish the building and build back a new Chick-fil-A,” Cadranel said.

The Shogun building and 1.1 acres of land on the south side of Whittlesey Boulevard was listed on Showcase.com for $3.5 million. That is more than $514 per square foot.

The listing agent was Wesley Lewis, according to Showcase.com.

Arris Realty Partners, which has an ownership stake and manages Columbus Park Crossing South, facilitated the sale, Cadranel said.

The property became available when Meszaros, who also owns a Shogun on Manchester Expressway, wanted to reduce his operation to one store, Cadranel said.

“At some point Gene decided to lighten his load from two restaurants to one,” Cadranel said. “He saw the greater value in the Columbus Park Crossing South location.”

Shogun operated the Columbus Park Crossing restaurant until Wednesday when the building sold, Cadranel said.

Chick-fil-A applied for a building permit at 5520 Whittlesley Blvd., in Columbus Park Crossing, said Columbus Codes and Inspections Commercial Plans Examiner Terry Vaughn on Monday. That permit has yet to be issued, Vaughn said.

On Sunday afternoon, workers were at the Shogun on Whittlesey Boulevard cleaning out the restaurant. They were moving out kitchen prep tables and other items. No permit has been issued yet for the demolition of the 6,800-square-foot Shogun restaurant, Vaughn said.

Shogun had seven days from last Wednesday’s closing to vacate the building. Most of the property was out of it as of Monday afternoon.

There are currently five Chick-fil-A restaurants open in Columbus and one in Phenix City. The most recent one opened last week on Manchester Expressway and is franchise-owned by Columbus resident Alex Vann, who also operates the Wynnton-Macon Road outlet. There are also Columbus Chick-fil-A’s at Bradley Park and Midland. There is also one inside Peachtree Mall.

This story was originally published June 26, 2017 at 11:39 AM with the headline "Chick-fil-A acquires Columbus Park Crossing site, to demolish existing building."