Texas Roadhouse will relocate its 25th Street location near FairOaks Mall to the west side of Columbus next year just east of Interstate 65.
The steakhouse chain is planning to build an 8,000-square-foot restaurant on 3.57 acres on the north side of Merchant’s Mile. The new location is in the vicinity of Chevrolet of Columbus and adjacent to Fairfield Inn & Suites, north of Sam’s Club.
The existing restaurant at 2508 25th St., built in 1997, is being relocated to the west side in part because of the high visibility and traffic from I-65, said Travis Doster, spokesman for Texas Roadhouse.
Plans by Columbus Regional Health to build healthcare facilities on the west side of Columbus also factored into the company’s decision, he said.
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The hospital system announced March 1 that it had spent $11 million to purchase 800 acres south of Jonathan Moore Pike, between Interstate 65 and State Road 11, where it would use 100 to 150 of those acres itself and have a say in how the rest of the property would be developed.
The Columbus Plan Commission on Wednesday voted 8-1 to approve a final Planned Unit Development plan for the Texas Roadhouse site with commission member Barry Kastner in opposition. Kastner said he had concerns about plan details such as landscaping, a lack of trees and how bright signage would be outside of the space.
Other restaurants in the Columbus Crossing retail center include Burger King, Waffle House, IHOP and Culver’s.
Employees from the current Texas Roadhouse location, across the street from the Hamilton Community Center and Ice Arena, will move to the new restaurant when it opens in August 2019, Doster said. Customers can expect to see more parking for the new restaurant, which will be larger than its current building.
“Columbus has been a great market for us. This kind of gives us a fresh start,” Doster said.
The steak chain, headquartered in Louisville, opened its first steakhouse in Clarksville, Indiana, just north of Louisville, in 1993. It has more than 435 locations in 49 states and three foreign countries.
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Texas Roadhouse plans to begin construction next year on a new restaurant on the west side of Columbus, expected to open in mid-August of 2019. About 130 full- and part-time employees who work at the existing restaurant at 2508 25th St. will be retained, said Travis Doster, spokesman for Texas Roadhouse.
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