Have You Heard?

WICHITA — The investors who recently purchased the former Fritz Co. Grille space near K-96 and Webb Road have a tenant for the space.

Trey Dower, who has a long history as an Old Chicago manager for several locations, is opening Palmers Grill where Fritz used to be.

“It’s pretty much ready to go,” he says of the space.

He’s painted quite a bit, but he’s not doing too much else right now.

“It’s like buying an older house. When you start tearing into things, you find more than you want,” Dower says. “We’re really going to kind of live with it before we make further changes.”

The restaurant will serve burgers, sandwiches, steaks, pasta and salad.

Dower is calling it Palmers after “an old family name on my wife’s side.”

Picking a name “was probably the hardest part. It was kind of nuts.”

Picking a location was easier.

“I always liked the building,,” Dower says. “It’s unique for restaurants anymore.”

Don Ablah of Classic Real Estate handled the deal.

Dower likes the layout of the former Fritz space and the two private dining rooms, which seat 40 and 12.

The main dining room seats 100, and the bar seats 50. There are another 32 seats on a patio and a deck.

New neighbor Menards is another factor in Dower’s decision to locate there, as is the road that connects that stretch of businesses to the businesses near Golf Warehouse.

“It was a dead end road before the Menards was built,” Dower says.

Look for the restaurant to open around the end of February.

WICHITA — There’s more happening near K-96 and Webb Road than just the new Menards.

Investors also have purchased the former Fritz Co. Grille space, which has been empty since the restaurant closed in May 2007.

“They’re working with a prospect,” says Don Ablah of Classic Real Estate, who handled the deal for the buyers.

The prospect is another restaurant.

“That’s what we’re hoping for,” Ablah says.

When Fritz closed after less than two years in business, a real estate broker said he expected a new business would open there not long after the Menards deal closed.

Then, deals fell through for the Wisconsin-based home improvement chain to bring two stores to Wichita.

This year, the deals were back on, and Menards is under construction near K-96 and Webb and 37th North and Maize Road.

“We’re just thrilled that the bank was willing to hang in there during this time while Menards was under construction,” says Brad Saville of Landmark Commercial Real Estate.

He handled the deal for First State Bank & Trust, which owned the Fritz building.

In 2008, the building was appraised at $1.78 million. In 2009, that was reduced to $1.1 million after the building sat empty.

“I just really feel like they got a great value,” Saville says of the buyers. “I feel like their timing is perfect with Menards opening in the next 60 to 90 days.”

We’ll keep you posted on a possible new tenant and the Menards opening date.