One Outback to close as another location opens

The opening of a new Outback Steakhouse this fall adjacent to the Dayton Mall will come with a price: the closing of another Outback location. But the new restaurant will create more jobs, and seat more diners, than its predecessor, according to its franchise owner.

The Outback Steakhouse restaurant that has operated for more than 22 years at the Cross Pointe retail center in Centerville will shut down shortly before a new Outback Steakhouse opens later this year at the former Sears auto center at the Dayton Mall.

Brian Hansen, the managing partner of the Cross Pointe Outback Steakhouse, said the opening of the new Dayton Mall restaurant at 2560 Miamisburg-Centerville Road in Miami Twp. is projected to occur the first half of November, although the existing restaurant in Centerville will shut down prior to the opening so staff can be trained at the new location. The Cross Pointe restaurant, which opened in March 1996, employs 85. “We will bump that up to around 120 at the new location,” Hansen said. The number of tables will grow from 48 to 57, he said.

Gayle Wright of Don Wright Realty said a breakfast-themed restaurant has expressed interest in the Outback Steakhouse space, which is leased through the end of the year. Outback will share the renovated former Sears Auto Center with another tenant that has not yet been announced, according to Miami Twp. officials.

The Outback project will include an initial reconstruction phase estimated at $530,000, Chris Snyder, Miami Twp. community development director, told this news outlet earlier this year. The former Sears auto center project is among the most significant redevelopments announced for the mall area since a longrange plan was adopted nearly two years ago.