Land purchase completed for new Chili’s Restaurant

By BRENDA ALLUMSnews@kilgorenewsherald.com

Acquisition of a site for a proposed Chili’s restaurant in Kilgore hs been completed.

Don Lawler, broker/negotiator on the project, said after 27 months of negotiations and site inspections, the deal “has been closed.”

Lawler said MDK Development of Midlothian purchased the land from J.S. and Frank Elders heirs.

Last November, the Kilgore Planning and Zoning Board approved the preliminary plat for the construction of a proposed Chili’s, which will be located between U.S. Hwy. 259 Business and Utzman Road. In December Kilgore city commissioners approved the project.

The restaurant will be located in the area near Auto Zone, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, a car wash and CVS Drugs.

The 6.144-acre site has been divided into six lots. Florio said existing wells and tanks occupy three of the lots and one is for storage units. The remaining two, one of which is the site for the proposed Chili’s, are for retail.

“I was told construction will begin immediately,” Lawler said. “I imagine dirt work will start around May 1.”

Preliminary plans call for a 3,929 square foot facility.

“This is a new prototype for Chili’s,” Kilgore Planning Director Sue Lynn Florio. “It’s a little smaller than the Chili’s in Longview, but not much smaller.”

Construction will be by Adams Engineering of Southlake, Tex.

“We’re probably looking at a July or August completion date,” Troy Johnson, project manager for MDK said.

He said his company will need about six to eight weeks to complete work on the site. Then construction will take about four to five months.