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RESTAURANT, MILITARY RECRUITERS TO OCCUPY S. OLIVE STRIP MALL

By Amy Riggin/ OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Thursday, May 28, 2009 2:16 PM CDT

Contractors are working to prepare for tenants at a new strip mall off South Olive, one of which has been confirmed as a restaurant and another a suite of military recruiting offices.

Matthew Webb Construction Company employees, Jeffery Taylor (left) vacuums up the water, Doug 'Funny' Fowler (center) sweeps the excess toward Taylor as Donald Jones cuts the concrete pad for the plumbing lines Wednesday afternoon at the new strip shopping center across from Walmart. Pine Bluff Commercial/Ralph Fitzgerald

The city inspection and zoning office confirmed Wednesday that owner Chen Wen Yan had applied for a permit to spend $52,000 remodeling a four-suite space for a restaurant called Chef’s Lee. No other information about Yan or when the restaurant plans to open was listed on the permit, which was issued Friday.

The office also confirmed issuing an electrical permit for a “military suite.”

Sgt. 1st Class Stanley Townsend of the local Armed Forces Recruiting Office, now in The Pines mall, said that the four offices — Air Force, Army, Marines and Navy — are expected to make the move to South Olive in early July.

“You go where your targeted group is,” Townsend said in explaining the relocation. “Everything is out that way; that’s where all the shopping is out in that area. We had the opportunity, and we took it.”

The Army Corps of Engineers actually made the decision to move the offices after surveying the area, Townsend said. The decision did not have anything to do with the April 16 bankruptcy filing by The Pines owner General Growth Properties, he said, adding that he didn’t know anything about how the bankruptcy would affect the mall or its tenants.

The strip mall’s physical address is 502 Mallard Loop. It sits on a 57,898-square-foot lot north of Interstate 530, just west of the Wal-Mart Supercenter.

Robert Tucker, director of inspection and zoning for Pine Bluff, said the construction permit was issued on Nov. 6 to Sutliff Construction of Pine Bluff. The owner is Roger Dadlani. Tucker said he did not think Dadlani is a local. The shopping center has an estimated value of $1 million, Tucker said.

Pat Sutliff, owner of Sutliff Construction, said the developer for the project is Jim Nosari of Little Rock.

On an adjacent lot is the Hampton Inn & Suites, which is now anticipated to open as early as September, according to Charmaine Easie-Samuels, a spokesperson for Hampton. The original target opening was November.

“I’d say September or October,” Easie-Samuels said.

The hotel, part of the Hilton hotel chain, is expected to have 80 rooms, she said.

Pine Bluff Host Lodging LLC bought the 87,067-square-foot tract in June 2007 for $436,000.

Easie-Samuels said the hotel is a franchised property owned by an individual, but would not release the name of the owner. A contractor at the site said the owner is Danny Patel.

Hampton Inn & Suites has advertised in The Commercial recently that it has begun hiring employees, although no contact information was listed in the ad. Those interested were instructed to come to the hotel on certain days to apply.

Lou Taylor, chair of the Pine Bluff Planning Commission, said he had heard rumors that several other businesses had inquired about locating in the South Olive area, including Quizno’s and Olive Garden.

“It’s just rumors mainly but sometimes before these companies come in they check utility transmission lines, water supplies, things like that,” he said. “I understand that Olive Garden has been in the area to check on Entergy’s transmission lines.”

Taylor said Olive Garden specifically had looked at a lot just south of the strip mall, which Union Bank & Trust Co. sold to Leesco Inc. of Monticello Jan. 2. The 67,568-square-foot lot sold for $835,000.

The city inspection and zoning office had not issued a building permit at that site as of Wednesday.

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