Burger chain Jack in the Box is working on plans to open its first Indiana restaurant along Meridian Street just south
of 16th Street. The chain has worked up preliminary plans to build on about an acre south of the new CVS pharmacy, brokers
said. The San Diego-based chain has more than 2,000 locations in 18 states, primarily in the West. Jack in the Box also owns
and operates Qdoba Mexican Grill, which has 26 locations here. Property Lines broke the news in March that the chain was interested
in opening several restaurants in Indiana. No word yet on where else they are looking. The original post is here.
Update: Another broker tells me the chain's plans for stores in Indiana have been put on hold. Both the chain spokesman and their local broker declined to discuss the plans as I prepared the post above. Stay tuned.
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I LOVE the Jack in the Crack! I eat wayyy to much of it out here in L.A. Glad to see my friends back home in Indy will finally get a taste!
They are just pieces of a corporate giant.
The food itself usually isn't that bad, not everyone can afford a steak for lunch. ;)
Also, fast food joints don't usually have interest in matching the local urban environment.
Result: A very well desgined building that has architectural stone and brick features that make it blend in better with the urban landscape. Walgreen's across the street, not so much.
We can demand more of the corporate franchises - no one ever chooses to. In my old town, we had an ordinance agains certain color schemes and how much goes on on the signs. Thus Rally's had to change which style of sign they wanted to use, blending in with the rest of the places along the road. Push back to the developers, and everyone will be happier.
With a daytime employment population of 5-10,000 within a few blocks, and 50,000 cars a day going through the 16th & Meridian intersection, there's a high demand for both drive-through convenience and fast-food or fast-casual dining.
There are drive-throughs on all four corners now (Walgreen's, CVS, Mickey D's, and Chase) and for several blocks west (White Castle and Hardees). Realistically, that's what landowners will want there as it offers them the highest return on investment with credit tenants. If not Jack, probably BK or Arby's. Even Panera or Qdoba might do well considering the potential lunchtime crowds.
There's plenty of room for mixed-use development closer to Methodist, and such developments lend themselves better to the smaller independent establishments and local chains like Sahm's, Crystal and Patachou. There's plenty of room for everyone.
Two blocks north of the 16-story hotel was a corner shared by a Jack in the Box and a gas station/car wash. A block south was a single-story Office Depot, surrounded by surface parking...right across the street from the train station and a 30-story tower. Next door to the hotel (between it and the County building's parking lot) was a full city block parking lot...straight across Harbor Drive from the cruise-ship pier.
It isn't just Indianapolis that has sprawl-form in its downtown. That side of San Diego looks much like the Northwest Quadrant of our downtown, up to about 16th St....but it's much closer to the urban core than 16th, and literally right across the street from the ocean!
Maybe they're like Don's Guns and they just LOVE to sell hamburgers!
To suggest that this happens only in Indianapolis is fundamentally incorrect.
I appreciate comic relief; most things in life shouldn't be as solemn as a church service or funeral. I don't perceive Cory's blog as a place to have high tea with finger sandwiches and polite conversation about the weather. :)
I could be wrong, though. Cory?
That is true.
If we could get Jack in the Box to construct an urban building with no 'theme' that was up to the sidewalks and done in brick and stone I don't think it would be that bad.
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