A Culver’s restaurant franchisee hopes to start construction in early February on a Gate Parkway location.
The city is reviewing permits for a 3,820-square-foot restaurant on 1.54 acres at 7818 Gate Parkway at construction costs of almost $1.46 million.
McCon Building Corp. of Highland, Wisconsin, is the contractor.
Franchisee Don Lichte said his group hopes to buy the property about Feb. 1 and start the project at the same time. First Coast Energy L.L.P. owns the land, where it initially planned to build a gas station and convenience store.
Lichte said Dec. 30 he hopes to open about Aug. 1.
The city is reviewing permits for the building, dumpster enclosure, attached awnings and a pergola on a concrete patio.
Lichte said the Culver’s should seat 104 patrons inside and about 24 outside. There also is a drive-thru.
In December, the city issued a concurrency reservation certificate for the project, which will be across from Ikea.
Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. is the civil engineer. Ollman Associates Architects of Belvidere, Illinois, is the architect.
GateLite3 LLC, led by Don and Lori Lichte and their daughter, Sophie, is the developer and intends to buy the land.
As dLites3 LLC, they opened the first area Culver’s in July 2019 in Middleburg in Clay County.
Sophie Lichte is the owner-operator of the Middleburg restaurant and will be the same for the Gate Parkway store.
“We really like that area and the demographics,” Don Lichte said of the Gate Parkway property. “We wanted to build east of the river closer to the beach.”
Their goal is to build three area Culver’s restaurants in five years, “and we’ll see after that.”
The Lichtes worked with real estate broker Clint Murphy, president of Jacksonville-based Murphy Land and Retail Services Inc., which represents Culver’s in its area site search.
Culver’s is based in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, near Madison. The Lichtes are based in Reedsburg, Wisconsin.
Culver’s specializes in frozen custard, cheese curds and ButterBurgers – named for their butter-toasted buns.
The company works with multiple franchisees to develop within areas.
Founded in 1984, Culver’s now counts more than 740 locations across the United States.
