The Slim Chickens franchisee appears to have changed its Jacksonville area plans from stand-alone restaurants to leasing inline space in strip shopping centers.
Tallahassee-based Kalo Holdings LLC, which planned to build the area’s first stand-alone Slim Chickens restaurant, sold its site in Glen Kernan Park on Dec. 27 to a Jacksonville area investor and developer who intends to market the land for another tenant.
Glen Kernan Park is at northwest Butler and Hodges boulevards.
The Fayetteville, Arkansas-based fast-casual Slim Chickens restaurant franchise serves made-to-order chicken wings and tenders, chicken and waffles, chicken sandwiches, wraps, salads, sides, fries, kids’ meals, family meals and more.
Kalo Holdings bought the 1.1-acre Glen Kernan Park site at 4955 Sweetgrass Place, off of Hodges Boulevard, in February 2023 for $1.4 million and intended to build an almost 3,000-square-foot Slim Chickens. Kalo bought the land from Glen Kernan Park LLC, the developer of Glen Kernan Park.
Through limited liability companies, Mardon Realty and Development Group Inc. of Neptune Beach bought the land from Kalo Holdings on Dec. 27 and intends to market the property for a ground lease or possibly a build-to-suit.
Jacksonville Hodges OP3 LLC, affiliated with Mardon Realty, paid $1.5 million for the 1.1-acre site. Mardon had been the listing broker when Kalo bought the land.
The Mardon group also owns the site next door where Dunkin’ opened in December. Mardon is leasing that site to the Dunkin’ franchise developer.
Changed business model
Mardon Realty President Christopher West said the Slim Chickens franchisee changed its business model from stand-alone sites to inline stores with a focus on drive-thru endcaps to expedite their expansion and geographic coverage.
Those are the end units in shopping centers that allow for construction of a drive-thru.
Former NFL player Angelo Crowell and his wife, attorney Kimberly Crowell, are the area Slim Chicken franchise owners through Kalo Restaurant Group LLC of Tallahassee. They bought the Glen Kernan Park site through Kalo Holdings LLC.
Crowell could not be reached for comment.
Kalo had progressed to the point of filing site-work and construction plans with the city for Slim Chicken to develop the restaurant with a patio and drive-thru at the site.
The construction permit in review carried an estimated project cost of $1.1 million while the site-work job was estimated at $400,000.
Near the Slim Chickens property, Jacksonville Hodges OP2 LLC bought the 0.73-acre site in November 2023 where Dunkin’ was developed at 4975 Sweetgrass Place. Mardon has a ground lease there to the Dunkin’ franchisee.
Mardon Realty and Jacksonville Hodges OP3 and OP2 are led by Christopher West.
West said Jan. 7 that Kalo Holdings decided to change its area Slim Chickens business model from stand-alone stores to an inline model “that will allow them to grow faster and have a broader geographic coverage”
West said Kalo Holdings is looking for endcap units in Jacksonville shopping centers that provide drive-thru capabilities.
Industry trends show that buying land and developing a stand-alone restaurant can be more costly than renting a smaller space in a shopping center.
Also, renting smaller spaces allow a new-to-market restaurant chain to add more locations faster.
“The opportunity came up where they were thinking of making that shift and creating the opportunity (for us) to buy the site back,” West said.
West said he would start marketing the property. He expects interest specifically from restaurants and medical users.
“Restaurants are always good and the medical users are probably the two key targets,” he said.
Glen Kernan Park
The Slim Chicken site is the last Glen Kernan Park outparcel available for development West said.
The 48.5-acre Glen Kernan Park comprises a 55-plus residential community under construction and retailers that include a hotel, professional offices, restaurants and a gas station/car wash.
West said he worked on the financing and marketing of Glen Kernan Park, bringing in Olive Garden, Dunkin’, Slim Chickens, Culvers and Los Cabos Properties Inc., which developed the multitenant retail sites.
Gate Petroleum, Culvers, Olive Garden, the multitenant retail buildings and Embassy Suites all are separately owned.
West said Olive Garden and Embassy Suites have stated that they are preparing to start construction in the first quarter of 2025. The Culvers, Dunkin’ and Gate gas station and car wash have opened, and the two multitenant buildings are fully leased, having acquired their sites.
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West said his group worked with Laura Gonzales, founder and CEO of Jacksonville-based Ahead CRE, and her team, on refinancing the Dunkin’ site with a local bank.
“Her team … really got the transaction over the finish line,” West said.
Ahead CRE, formed in 2023, focuses on debt and equity originations nationwide with a focus on the Southeast.
West said the Glen Kernan Park projects in general has worked well.
“It’s been a real positive experience,” West said, adding that the city of Jacksonville, and the Rise team and Gate Petroleum “have been great to work with.”
“If all projects went like this, life would be a dream; when you work with good people, good things happen,” West said.