July 31, 2008
No Bonefish Grill?
Good morning, blog readers! I have what is potentially disappointing news about a retail center under construction in Southwest Roanoke County.
Thanks to a tip from one of you, I have been doing some follow-up reporting on the status of Keagy Village, a 16-acre center planned for the corner of Virginia 419 and Keagy Road. And it appears that a coveted chain restaurant might not be coming there.
Bonefish Grill, a seafood eatery based in Florida, now says that it won’t be opening a location in Roanoke County. That’s according to Cynthia Glover, a spokeswoman for the chain.
The developers of Keagy Village, Kahn Development Co., first announced in early 2006 that Bonefish would be opening there. Bonefish’s corporate office also has confirmed this news since then.
I’m not sure the reasons why this restaurant has reconsidered coming to Roanoke County. Glover said a Roanoke County site is not listed on the chain’s long-term opening plan, though she wouldn’t disclose that actual time period.
A spokesman with Kahn Development, based in South Carolina, has not returned several calls for comment about Bonefish’s fate at Keagy Village. But if the restaurant indeed does not come, that could spell bad news for this planned retail center. Already coffee retailer Starbucks has slashed its plans to locate a drive-through there.
And so far, no dominant anchor store has been announced for Keagy Village. Only one office tenant and a wireless retailer have confirmed plans to land there: Scottrade, a securities brokerage, and NTelos. Kahn Development has said that it expects Keagy Village to house 105,000 square feet of retail and 25,000 square feet of office space.
Comments
[July 31, 2008 10:16 AM]
RichPerhaps the economy is to blame for the change in heart from Bonefish?
[July 31, 2008 10:34 AM]
deanThis does not shock me.
[July 31, 2008 11:44 AM]
Other JohnThere were so many delays and problems with getting the site online, and now with the economy not doing as well as it was back in '06, I'm not surprised at all.
[July 31, 2008 11:54 AM]
Roanoke RnRSo much for the "build it and they will come" theory. Actually maybe that's part of the problem it's taking forever to build. Guess there's no rush when you have no tenants.
[July 31, 2008 1:32 PM]
MichelleToo bad! I used to live by a Bonefish in Winston-Salem and it was delicious. Very nice atmosphere.
[July 31, 2008 2:33 PM]
ChefKPerhaps the problem happens to be that the developers have a track record of taking way too long with finishing a project.
I can recall one such project they were part of out towards the beach, Starbucks signed a deal with them - and 6 years later opened.
Maybe Bonefish finally got wind of this?
[July 31, 2008 4:11 PM]
Heather FroeschlThe scariest thing to me about this is the loss of those glorious trees that were there on the hill before it was cleared. I'd hiked up there and had witnessed some of the biggest, oldest trees that I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Call me a tree hugger, but my disappointment is not in a retailer that will now not be there, but in the waste that was created before plans were solidified. How sad.
[August 1, 2008 8:06 AM]
SteveGood, I hope that Keagy Village turn's into a ghost town. The people of SW county voted against this project to start with.