Work begins on restaurant at Hamilton Place mall
Medical offices, a hotel, restaurants could be part of Sears redevelopment
ACheesecake Factory restaurant is the first part of the redevelopment of the Hamilton Place mall Sears store and its parking lots, which also could hold medical offices, a hotel and more eateries.
Work officially started Tuesday on The Cheesecake Factory restaurant outside the mall in the parking lot between Sears and the CBL Center office building, which houses shopping center owner CBL Properties.
The restaurant, which will be the first Cheesecake Factory in Chattanooga, is slated to open late this year.
Stephen Lebovitz, CBL’s chief executive officer, said the Californiabased eatery is one of the most successful and highly sought-after restaurants in the country.
“We are thrilled to be able to bring this dining experience to the Chattanooga market later this year,” said Lebovitz.
Alethea Rowe, the restaurant company’s senior director of public relations, said the Chattanooga eatery will employ about 300 people. The restaurant will have about 7,500 square feet inside with a 1,300-square-foot patio.
“Guests in Tennessee have been wonderful to us since we opened our first location in Nashville back in 2005,” Rowe said, adding that he’s looking forward to the restaurant joining the redevelopment project. The company declined to say how much the restaurant will cost to build.
Chattanooga-based CBL last year bought the Sears store at the mall and the retailer’s Northgate Mall auto site as the shopping center company plans to redevelop the space.
CBL acquired the two locations and leased them back to the retailer as part of a $72.5 million purchase and lease-back deal involving seven Sears facilities at CBL malls in six states.
CBL spokeswoman Stacey Keating said the company also is talking with Dave & Buster’s sports bar and restaurant about a location in the redevelopment.
In addition, documents filed by the company with the city last month show potential medical offices and a possible hotel among CBL’s plans.
Sears could remain in some form, Keating said, relocating to smaller store space. She said a provision in the Sears lease calls for giving the retailer six months, notice before terminating the agreement. That provision hasn’t been triggered, Keating said.
But, she said, more announcements about the redevelopment are expected later this year. Construction wouldn’t start until next year, Keating said.
“There will be considerable new construction,” she said, adding that plans are “fluid as to what we’ll end up bringing.”
“The project depends on the tenants that ultimately end up signing,” Keating said. “We’re definitely considering other restaurants.”
Sears, which has closed number of stores in recent years as it struggles to compete in the current retail environment, occupies about 151,000 square feet at the mall.
David Overton, founder, chairman and chief executive officer of The Cheesecake Factory Inc., said that since opening its first restaurant in Beverly Hills 40 years ago, the chain has “become known for creating delicious, memorable experiences for millions of guests around the country…”
Meanwhile, outside Northgate Mall in Hixson, CBL already has torn down the Sears auto center.
Panda Express and Aubrey’s are set to open eateries at that site by the end of this year, according to CBL.
CBL is stepping up the redevelopment of its shopping centers as its retailers face online competition.
The company owns and manages a national portfolio of properties across the United States. CBL’s portfolio is comprised of 117 properties totaling 73.4 million square feet in 26 states, including 75 enclosed, outlet and openair retail centers and 13 properties managed for third parties