Chick-fil-A seeks to build a restaurant on the former site of the Perkins Restaurant & Bakery in Shoppes of Grand Oak at the corner of Ben Hill Griffin Parkway and Corkscrew Road in Estero.
The popular restaurant chain submitted a 17-slide presentation to Village of Estero on June 2 and will present it June 10 during a public information meeting to the Planning, Zoning and Design Board.
Perkins closed in April after 16 years.
Fort Myers Retail 2 LLC owns the building and land. Retail 2 LLC has owned the property since 2020, according to property records. Chick-fil-A signed a ground lease with Fort Myers Retail 2 LLC on March 5, 2024, according to Lee County Clerk of Court records.
A ground lease allows the tenant to construct a building on the property and make other improvements. The lease is for 15 years, with the tenant able to extend it for 10 consecutive five-year periods. No rent amounts were mentioned in the document.
The presentation lists Chick-fil-A, Bowman Consulting Group of Naples, Narrate, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based architectural firm and MLD Studio; a landscape architectural firm based in Alpharetta, Georgia, as the project team. Bowman and Narrate referred all questions to Chick-fil-A. The restaurant did not answer an email seeking comment.
It’s not clear if the old Perkins building would be refurbished or torn down. The Chick-fil-A will have seating for 70 people inside and 16 outside. It will have 71 parking spaces and two drive-thru lanes that can accommodate 40 cars during its busiest time.
The village’s planning department saw an early building design by an architect for Chick-fila-A last year, said Estero Community Development Director Mary Gibbs. Planners sent the design back with suggestions. A second rendering was closer to Estero’s standards, she said.
The public can speak at June 10’s information meeting, Gibbs said. After the presentation, the restaurant chain will have to submit a development order/site plan that is reviewed by the planning department staff. The staff usually will send it back with questions and suggestions before it’s resubmitted. This can take several months, Gibbs said.
Once the application is sufficient, staff prepare a report and schedules a public hearing in front of the planning board. The board makes a recommendation to Village Council.
When the development order is approved, the applicant submits for building permits.
