Black Bear Diner ready for a bite of the Katy restaurant market
Black Bear Diner, a California chain operating in eight states in the West, will move into Texas with a Katy location in the first half of 2018.
Commercial real estate firm JLL has been tasked with expanding the brand in Texas, beginning with a 5,400-square-foot restaurant in the Shoppes at Parkwest, 24600 Katy Freeway. Matt Parsons and Mark Raines are handling the assignment.
“Black Bear Diner is a fast-growing, communityoriented, family dining concept,” Parsons said in an announcement.
Stephen Tou and Zach Hoffer of The Retail Connection represented the landlord, Medistar Parkwest JV.
Also in the Shoppes at Parkwest, Lubbock-based Abuelo’s Mexican Restaurants recently opened its first location in the Houston area and 39th nationwide. The restaurant, represented by Edge Realty Partners, has 7,600 square feet with seating for 270.
The shopping center, at the northeast corner of the Katy Freeway and Katy Fort Bend Road, is anchored by Dick’s Sporting Goods, another Houston newcomer, along with Bed Bath & Beyond and PetSmart. An Outback Steakhouse will open there next year.
Black Bear Diner has grown to 94 locations since its founding in Mount Shasta, Calif., in 1995.
“Our Katy location marks an important development in our ambition to become a national family dining concept,” CEO Bruce Dean said.
New-to-market retailers contributed to an overall increase in demand of nearly 5.5 million square feet in the local market in 2016, according to JLL. Developers meanwhile added about 5.4 million square feet across the Houston region last year. The current vacancy rate is 5.1 percent.
Other companies that recently announced plans to set up shop in Houston include Dirt Cheap, a deepdiscount chain based in Hattiesburg, Miss., and Dat Dog, a New Orleans chain of hot dog restaurants.