More information has become public in terms of restaurants being built in Chatham’s north end.
A week after receiving official word Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen will open early in the new year on St. Clair Street near Galaxy Cinemas, The Voice can now confirm Starbucks will be situated close by.
Bruce McAllister, head of planning for the municipality, confirmed the chic coffee house will be the feature restaurant at the site being prepared in front of Home Depot.
“The second site is indeed going to be Starbucks. It will be a drive-thru with seating in a standalone format,” he said. “There’s no Indigo component.”
That means no coffee shop within a bookstore, one rumour that had been floating around the municipality.
McAllister said the tentative opening date for Starbucks would be in late spring or early summer.
Popeyes, meanwhile, hopes to be open early in the new year.
As for the other part of that property which is also primed for development, McAllister said the developer is still seeking a tenant. As he had previously told The Voice, he could not confirm rumours that a Shoeless Joe’s franchise, a sports-themed restaurant franchise, would locate there.
“The other part of the build; they are still working on securing a tenant. It will be constructed as needed,” he said.
The new construction bucks a trend that’s occurring in Chatham these days: renovations and upgrades.
McAllister said that’s been the theme for the most part in town, as some businesses, such as Owens Flooring, have expanded on their existing sites.
In other cases, such as with JP Construction and its work on the downtown building that wraps around the structure that houses Sonya Roe Jewellers, extensive renovations are taking place.
At this point, the project is developing a number of office units. One will eventually be home to Nest Realty in the new year.
McAllister said there are also a number of conversion projects in the downtown either renovating existing living space or turning office space into living space.
The Daily Planet building on King Street West is undergoing a metamorphosis on its second and third floors, he said, as old office space will soon house a dozen apartments.
Upgrades are also underway across the street above Barrypatch and the former Downtown Deli to apartments in that King Street building. Plans are in the works for improvements to the store space below as well.
