Chick-fil-A Planning Ponce Premiere

Chick-fil-A planning new location in Midtown

Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A is reportedly planning a new location in midtown.  The freestanding restaurant would be located at 777 Ponce de Leon Avenue, between the Clermont Lounge and Liberty Tattoo, and across the street from the upcoming Gusto! The new Chick-fil-A would also be close to "Beltline" Kroger ( soon to be 725 Ponce mixed use project) and Ponce City Market.  

Dugan's, with the Clermont Lounge to the left 

The property is currently home to Dugan's, a popular bar which has been in business since 1982.  The parcel is just under an acre and would see the construction of a nearly 5,000 square foot restaurant.  

Dugan's, which claims to be home of "Atlanta's Original Wings," has other locations on Memorial Drive in Stone Mountain, Flat Shoals Parkway in Decatur and Old National Highway in Atlanta.  When reached for comment, a Dugan's spokesperson was unaware of the impending closure.  

The exterior of the Dugan's

A property listing (with an undisclosed purchase price) was published to the commerical real estate site LoopNet last month.  (One real estate source indicated that the leaseback offering was for $216K per year.)   I was made aware of the listing earlier this week, and despite multiple Chick-fil-A contacts asserting that they had no record of the location, the broker for the property told a different story.  

I spoke to Tyler Fish, Investment Associate with Marcus & Millichap, the company handling the Triple New Lease offering on the property.  According to Fish, "CFA made the property's owner an offer too good to refuse." This confirmed my belief that Dugan's did not own the property and was therefore unaware of the impending sale. 

Another local source claimed they were "quite sure" the property had already gone through all necessary permitting hurdles, no permits are on file with the City of Atlanta for the 777 Ponce address.  Additionally, given the property is surely in the Beltline Overlay District, it will likely be subject to especially stringent building and construction parameters.  

According to the sales flyer, the new Chick-fil-A will be in operation in the first quarter of 2017.  

The new Chick-fil-A will be built parallel to Ponce de Leon Avenue with all parking and drive-thru access at the rear of the building.   The preliminary site plan indicates that the restaurant will have access from both Ponce de Leon Avenue and Sommerset Terrace.  

Ponce de Leon has welcomed a number of new restaurants over the past few years including Zaxby's, Dunkin' Donuts, Cook Out, IHOP and soon Gusto! 

This past year, Chick-fil-A added a new location in West Midtown on Northside Drive near Georgia Tech as well as a new location at the College Football Hall of Fame downtown.

Are you excited to get a Chick-fil-A in midtown Atlanta?  Will you miss Dugan's?  What are your thoughts on Chick-fil-A as a company?

Please share your thoughts below.