More shops, restaurants set along Rt. 235

Kohl's, Olive Garden coming

Friday, April 10, 2009

Another undeveloped site in California is to be home to three new restaurants.

The building permits haven't been issued for Kohl's and Rite Aid yet, but they are close, said Harry Knight, permits coordinator for the St. Mary's County Department of Land Use and Growth Management. There are also two permit applications for two other buildings on the 25-acre site of the old National mobile home park that could be occupied by up to 12 businesses each. Or they could be two large businesses. The building shells are "designed as intense as a nightclub," he said.

Two businesses ran into trouble recently when they tried to run nightclubs out of restaurant space in the evenings.

At Lexington Village, the site of Kohl's, there are two other pad sites on the property that don't have any applications yet, he said. There are two other large spots next to Kohl's on the site plan. While the businesses that would occupy them are not identified yet, they are "fairly good-sized tenants," he said. The site for Kohl's is 90,000 square feet.

The developer, CRG Capital, was "hoping to start construction on Kohl's this spring," Knight said. "The main holdup that I'm left with right now is [Maryland] State Highway" Administration, as improvements may be required at the existing entrance off Route 235 and a new one off Buck Hewitt Road.

Farther north up Route 235 in California is the Park Place project at the corner of Shady Mile Drive. An Olive Garden restaurant, Buffalo Wild Wings and Red Robin are pending tenants there on what is an open field now, said Charlotte Hall developer John Parlett. "The Olive Garden is what's poised to get a building permit as soon as it can," Knight said. A sign permit has already been issued for the restaurant.

Bonds are getting put in place now, and a final approval letter from the state are needed for the Olive Garden's building permit. "We're very close," Parlett said. The permit should be in hand within 30 to 45 days. "Permitting takes its toll on us," but the project is still within 60 days of schedule, he said.

Grading should start in the field at Route 235 and Shady Mile Drive in two months, he said, and the Olive Garden should be breaking ground this summer or early fall. It should be open by the first quarter of 2010, he said. More businesses are planned after the initial three. "We're still talking to some other restaurants and non-restaurants," he said.

jbabcock@somdnews.com