After Video Plea, Chick Fil-A Finally Coming to Spring Hill

You might be able to Eat Mor Chikin closer to home soon, Spring Hill.

According to Mayor Rick Graham, a previously announced project on what is known as the Old Silo property was going back to the drawing board.

Instead, a letter of intent has been drafted between the developer and none other than Chick-fil-A, Graham said, to develop a location on the property, near the intersection of Main Street and Wilkes Lane.

“Yesterday they shared with me a letter of intent between Chick-fil-A and the property owner,” Graham said. “It is yet to be signed, and should be signed soon. I have dealt with a lot of these in my time, and it is the real deal.”

Hank Cannon, who represents the developer, RealtyLink said that things could be official sometime next month.

“We are working through those details, and are hoping that sometime in mid-to-late January we will have all the terms worked out and have all the contracts signed and be able to move forward with the planning process,” Cannon said.

The city has been lobbying for a Spring Hill location for some time. They even made a video to prod the Georgia-based company to locate a restaurant here.

RealtyLink, had began working on plans in the fall for a 20,400-square foot space with retail and three -restaurants, two of which were drive thrus, and some retail space.

“That project had been in the works for a while, and it was just much too many drive thrus, too much traffic, it was just way too much for that property,” Graham said. “So Kayce Williams had them re-draw and re-look at it and got them to entertain the possibility of Chick-fil-A. They were pretty insistent about coming to north Spring Hill. Outside of traffic, the thing I hear the most about from citizens was about getting a Chick-fil-A.”

According to Cannon, the– very preliminary– sketch plan they are working on involves two buildings. Chick-fil-A will take up half of the site with one, and the second building, up the hill from the first, will be developed into likely a drive-thru restaurant and some retail space.

There, however, is always a price to pay for what you want.

Cannon, speaking for developer in the fall, said the silo on the property would remain intact. There was some back and forth between the developer and the city on who should be responsible for inspecting it, bringing it up to safety codes and maintaining it.

It’s future may or may not be a practical possibility with the new development.

“The drawing I looked at yesterday still has the silo on it,” Graham said. “But I want people to understand this: the silo has been there a long, long time and it is something that is respected by all of us, but — but — safety has to come first.”

“We are very conscious of the community, and we just want to make sure we do what is right for it,” Cannon said.

Chick-fil-A has a location in Columbia, three in Franklin, one in Brentwood and six in Metro Nashville.

Neither the restaurant chain nor Realty Link had yet returned calls for comment.

1 COMMENT

  1. I love Chick Fil A, but I sure feel bad for the businesses that are already in town. Doesn’t seem like the city would do this for any other businesses. Other businesses, local and chain have to feel like chopped liver.

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