Wally Kennedy: With Range Line filling up, where will new restaurants go?

Apr. 9—Long have I held the view that Joplin is like a big airport with restaurants circling it looking for a place to land.

Right now, there might be as many as six restaurants circling Joplin.

The problem is that they all want to land on Range Line Road because that's where the traffic is and that's where the money is. Range Line, between Newman Road on the north and 36th Street on the south, is filling up. These restaurants are running out of places to land. This is not only my view but the view of those who specialize in local commercial real estate.

Let's look at the inventory. King's Palace, 1401 S. Range Line, has been purchased for redevelopment. Panera Bread this month will begin construction of a new restaurant where Pizza By Stout was located at 2101 S. Range Line. The former Taco Hut property across the road from Panera Bread is actively being pursued for a new restaurant. The Pizza By Stout and the Taco Hut properties are the last Range Line properties in the tornado zone to be redeveloped.

Heading south from there, the next available site is the former Casa Montez restaurant at 2324 S. Range Line. A letter of intent has been signed on this property, which was on the market for $3.15 million.

From there, the next available site is the former Pacific Rim restaurant at 2850 S. Range Line. It has been on the market since 2016. It's listed for $999,000. It appears that it, too, could soon be under contract.

The former Paint Stallion property at the southeast corner of 32nd Street and Range Line will become a Take 5 car wash with construction set to begin in June. At the southwest corner of that intersection are pieces of property, now mostly vacant retail storefronts, that are being eyed for a new restaurant and hotel. One of the most desirable properties on the strip was purchased by Chick-fil-A for its new restaurant at 3509 S. Range Line. The next available property is the Sunrise Inn, next to Interstate 44. It's on the market for $1.9 million.

There are other pieces of property that are available, but they are not on Range Line Road. There's a large piece of property that's ready for development east of the new Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers restaurant in the 1200 block of South Range Line. There's some property available at the site of the former Eastgate Theaters. This property is next door to the new Buffalo Wild Wings at 1525 S. Range Line. There's a piece of property that's available on the hill just east of Macadoodle's at 17th Street and Range Line Road.

This is not a complete breakdown of the commercial property that is available on or near South Range Line, but you get the picture. Range Line is filling up. This bears watching, because who knows what will happen next?

These restaurants that are circling Joplin need a place to land. Could the new 32nd Street Place Development east of Range Line with its newly configured and upgraded Hammons Boulevard be a place for these restaurants? We'll see.

New future

If you haven't been paying close attention to the long-closed King Palace Buffet restaurant at 1401 S. Range Line Road, you probably wouldn't notice that someone has been cleaning up the property's exterior: Some outdated shrubs have been removed, that sort of thing.

The property has been purchased for redevelopment by a successful Joplin restaurateur who has experience in transforming Range Line properties into new venues.

George Michalopoulos, the owner of Mythos Euro Greek Kuzina, 1306 S. Range Line Road, has purchased the property in a deal put together by Gil Stevens, a local commercial real estate agent.

Mythos, you might recall, was a former Grandy's restaurant before Michalopoulos transformed it into one of the city's top-performing restaurants.

He also owns Social BTB (Burgers, Tenders and Beer) on the first floor of the Gryphon Shopping Center, 1027 S. Main St.

Michalopoulos told me he is still sorting out some ideas for the property and the kind of cuisine he might tackle next. There is also the possibility he could just lease the property because demand for venues with Range Line frontage is incredibly high.

Right now, the biggest challenge local restaurateurs face with their existing business or the opening of a new venue is finding sufficient and reliable help, he said.

That's because the demand for hospitality workers is so strong. At least five restaurants, with 75 to 80 employees each, will be opening this year in the Range Line and Main Street corridors. That will have an impact on the local market.

Contact Wally Kennedy at wkennedy@joplinglobe.com.