By the numbers
80: Estimated jobs created by new IHOP location in Springfield.
60: Parking spaces IHOP is requesting for new restaurant.
$2.9 million: Money being spent on three new retail stores on North Bechtle Avenue, including a $2.1 million Hobby Lobby location.
An IHOP restaurant is coming to a new shopping center on Bechtle Avenue in Springfield as the busy retail corridor continues to rebound after a slow down during the Great Recession.
The national breakfast chain, also known as the International House of Pancakes, will build a new restaurant in an outlot at 2206 Bechtle Ave., near the new Hobby Lobby development.
Over the past six months, more than $2.9 million has been spent on new retail stores on Bechtle Avenue.
The shopping center north of Walmart was originally planned in 2006, but the recession slowed the development, said Stephen Thompson, Springfield's planning, zoning and code enforcement administrator.
“It’s good to finally see these projects come to fruition,” Thompson said.
The new IHOP could break ground as early as May 16, said Jamila Gilbert, marketing director for the developer of the Miami Valley region’s IHOPs. A late summer opening has been targeted, she said.
The restaurant will be IHOP’s newest prototype, called the Rise and Shine Design, Gilbert said. The lot will be about 1 acre and could include a more than 8,400-square-foot restaurant, according to city planning records.
It was announced last year that seven IHOP restaurants were planned for the Miami Valley market but not all of the locations had been released.
The Miami Valley’s IHOPs are being developed by Las Cruces, New Mexico-based Prestige Development Group, which is still in the process of closing on the Bechtle Avenue property.
The first of those restaurants opened in Beavercreek late last year. Each site will create as many as 80 jobs, development officials told this news organization last year.
“We’re excited to be developing in the region again,” Gilbert said.
The restaurant filed a variance to increase the number of parking spaces at its location and will appear before the Board of Zoning Appeals on May 16. The restaurant wants 60 parking spaces, more than the typical 46. City staff will be recommended approval of the variance, Thompson said.
It’s the latest in a string of developments on Bechtle Avenue. Hobby Lobby spent about $2.1 million to construct a new 55,000-square-foot location on North Bechtle Avenue, while Kay Jewelers recently opened a new $163,000 location inside the Bechtle Crossing shopping center at 1654 N. Bechtle Ave.
Dollar Tree is also currently building a $658,000 location in one of outlots in front of the Hobby Lobby development. The former Dollar Tree and Ashley Furniture locations are both being demolished to build a Dick’s Sporting Goods later this year.
The corridor also includes several major retailers such as Walmart, Home Depot, Kohls, Meijer and Lowes.
IHOP operates multiple franchise restaurants in the Columbus and Cincinnati markets. But prior to the opening of the Beavercreek restaurant, the closest IHOPs to Springfield were in Columbus, Grove City and West Chester.
The IHOP will be a good addition to the corridor, Springfield resident Rick Boop said. The city needs more breakfast spots in town, he said, especially in light of the recent Perkins closings.
“A lot of people liked those (restaurants),” Boop said.
Springfield resident Lauren Davey has never eaten at IHOP but believes it will be good for the area. She also hopes to see another breakfast spot enter the market.
“We should get a Waffle House first though,” she said.
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