Culver’s restaurant opens at 10:30 a.m. Sept. 27 at 7818 Gate Parkway, near Ikea.
Owners Don, Lori and Sophie Lichte said the restaurant will offer drive-thru service only the first week.
Culver’s specializes in frozen custard, cheese curds and ButterBurgers – named for their butter-toasted buns.
The Lichtes own the area’s first Culver’s, which opened two years ago in Middleburg. Other franchisees have since opened more area Culver’s and more are planned.
Don Lichte said previously the Gate Parkway restaurant will have 104 inside seats and about 24 on the patio.
Through GateLite3 LLC, the Lichtes paid $1.3 million for almost 1.54 acres along Gate Parkway on March 22 from First Coast Energy L.L.P. Jacksonville-based First Coast Energy initially planned to build a gas station and convenience store on the site.
The city issued the site-clearing permit for Culver’s on March 16 and the construction permit for a 3,820-square-foot restaurant March 31.
McCon Building Corp. of Highland, Wisconsin, was the contractor.
Kimley-Horn and Associates Inc. is the civil engineer. Ollman Associates Architects of Belvidere, Illinois, is the architect.
GateLite3 LLC, led by Don and Lori Lichte and their daughter, Sophie, was the developer.
Sophie Lichte is the owner-operator of the Middleburg restaurant and will be the same for the Gate Parkway store.
The Lichtes worked with real estate broker Clint Murphy, president of Jacksonville-based Murphy Land and Retail Services Inc., which represents Culver’s in its area site search.
Culver’s is based in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, near Madison. The Lichtes are based in Reedsburg, Wisconsin.
The company works with multiple franchisees to develop within areas.
