Shake Shack eyes shopping center for second Triangle location. What we know.
The Shake Shack restaurant chain known for its burgers, shakes and fries is looking to open its second Triangle location.
The company is eyeing its first storefront in Chapel Hill at Eastgate Crossing at 1800 E. Franklin St., which Kite Realty Group acquired in late 2020 from Federal Realty Investment Trust. A restaurant opened in Cary’s Waverly Place in August 2019 and was greeted with long lines of customers.
The restaurant is interested in renovating a vacant, roughly 3,000-square-foot outbuilding that was most recently occupied by Zoes Kitchen. Zoes closed in 2019 after its parent company was acquired by the Cava Group. It also has been home to Boston Market, which closed in 2016.
“There’s other tenants in this (shopping center) that have expressed excitement about this tenant, and we are (excited), too,” said Matthew Van Dyke, senior project manager for Kite Realty Group.
He spoke Thursday night at a Chapel Hill Community Design Commission meeting. The project developer has asked the commission to approve a series of modifications to the building’s exterior and to the parking lot. The project also will expand and partially cover an outdoor patio dining area.
A vote is possible as early as the December meeting. The board’s approval would send the project to Chapel Hill Town Manager Maurice Jones, who would finalize the certificate of appropriateness required to build.
Shake Shack plans renovations
The Shake Shack site is in the town’s Blue Hill District, a longtime commercial area that lies along East Franklin Street, Fordham Boulevard, Ephesus Church Road and South Elliott Road. Projects in the district are guided by a form-based development code that outlines how buildings should look and fit into their surroundings.
The code also speeds up the approval process by routing projects to the Community Design Commission and town manager for hearings and approval. The Town Council does not review projects in the district.
Every Shake Shack is different, designed to reflect the community around it, company officials have said. The proposal for Chapel Hill includes a dark green brick on the front facade, accented with black window, door and canopy frames. Variegated panels alternating between green and white would be used on other sides of the building.
Large planters would separate the patio from the parking lot. Shake Shack would renovate the building’s interior, Van Dyke said.
The current patio “is very small,” Van Dyke said. “It’s not really inviting. It’s not enough, especially with what we’re going through still today with COVID.”
He noted that Kite Realty Group has made a number of improvements since buying the shopping center, which was built in 1958. The company also is modifying a storefront for Aldi, a Germany-based discount grocer, and recently added a relocated Kipos restaurant.
The commissioners were largely supportive of the project, but asked for a second review. They asked the developer to bring back a more lush landscaping plan and ideas for screening the building’s mechanical systems.
“It feels natural and right, so I appreciate that you brought a fresh look at the parking and how to reconfigure those things,” Commission Chair Susana Dancy said.
Shake Shack founder and chef Danny Meyer started the company in 2004 from a hot dog cart in New York City’s Madison Square Park with the goal of raising money for a public art project, according to the company website. Its reach is now global, with four locations near Charlotte and one in Cary.
Kite Realty and Shake Shack officials did not respond to The News & Observer for additional comments Thursday.
This story was originally published November 11, 2021 at 9:54 PM with the headline "Shake Shack eyes shopping center for second Triangle location. What we know.."
