Early site work has started on a parcel next to Hamilton Place mall where a Malone’s restaurant is slated to go and add to the shopping center’s growing menu of eateries.
“Some preliminary prep work is happening,” said Stacey Keating, vice president of corporate communications for mall owner CBL Properties, in an email.
The location for the future Malone’s, which restaurant owner Bluegrass Hospitality Group said specializes in fresh, hand-cut prime steaks, is on an outparcel near Dick’s Sporting Goods.
Keating said the Malone’s group isn’t giving a opening date yet for the restaurant that also offers salads, fish and seafood selections, and sandwiches. Malone’s was originally announced for the market in late 2019, prior to the pandemic shutdowns. Then, the restaurant was to have opened in early 2021.
Lexington, Kentucky-based Bluegrass Hospitality didn’t return a call Thursday. Bluegrass opened the first Malone’s location in 1998.
The future Malone’s is on part of a site that represents the ongoing redevelopment of the mall’s former Sears store and its parking lots. The work makes up the biggest revamp of Hamilton Place mall in its more than 30-year history.
Sears filed for bankruptcy in October 2018 after years of trying to compete against online retailers, discount chains and boutique stores. But CBL bought the Sears space at Hamilton Place from the retailer in 2017 with an eye toward redeveloping the property.
(READ MORE: Sears closing Hamilton Place store)
This summer, Crunch Fitness announced it will lease 35,000 square feet on the upper level of the former Sears store, next to Dave & Buster’s, to open its newest fitness club in late 2023 or early 2024.
In addition, restaurants Texas Roadhouse, Taco Mamacita and Community Pie were earlier announced for the Hamilton Place campus.
Community Pie already has opened at the former Old Chicago location on Hamilton Place Boulevard. Taco Mamacita is to open next year in the former Sticky Fingers location. Construction on Texas Roadhouse has begun with a planned opening date in 2024, according to CBL.
Earlier, the Dick’s store and Dave & Buster’s opened in the revamped former Sears location. Outside, an Aloft Hotel and a Cheesecake Factory restaurant also have opened.
Stephen Lebovitz, CBL’s chief executive officer, said the addition of Crunch Fitness “further diversifies the uses available at Hamilton Place and supports our strategy of redefining our malls through the combination of in-demand retail, restaurants and nonretail uses.”
(READ MORE: CBL looks to redevelopment mall sites)
“Since CBL purchased the former Sears building, we have introduced a variety of market-exclusive tenants to Chattanooga,” Lebovitz said in an earlier statement.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.