The Lakeland area is set to get another Chick-fil-A restaurant serving its signature chicken sandwiches and waffle fries.
According to Polk County records, the new location is just north of Shepherd Road on the west side of South Florida Avenue. Its location was confirmed May 14 by an email from the company.
“While we are still early in the process, Chick-fil-A is happy to share that we are actively pursuing a new location in the Lakeland area,” said the company via email on Wednesday. “We are excited by the prospect of joining this neighborhood, where each locally owned and operated restaurant creates 80–120 jobs.”
“We hope to have the opportunity to serve new Guests delicious food in an environment of genuine hospitality,” the company added.
The exact address is 6875 S. Florida Ave. in unincorporated Lakeland, which is the site of a vacant lot, county records show. The rear of the property abuts a CSX railroad track along Old Highway 37.
The land has been cleared and workers had started laying some infrastructure.
The 2.18-acre lot is owned by 2024 Shepard Lakeland LLC, county records show. The corporation’s managing members are listed in state records as Paul Ferber and P. Shield Ferber Jr. of Ponte Vedra Beach.
The land sold on Jan. 21 for $1.57 million. The developer is listed as Southeast Investments Inc. with the Ferbers and others listed as officers of the corporation.
Polk County has received a site plan, and Bohler Engineering Florida LLC is the applicant on behalf of Chick-Fil-A Inc, county records show. The drawing shows a gross area of 5,335-square-feet for a quick-serve restaurant with a drive-thru and related site infrastructure.
The restaurant will have 68 seats, plans show. A driveway in a site plan submitted to Polk County shows the Chick-fil-A will connect to other parcels slatted for retail and restaurant tenants.
Those nearby parcels, just to the north of the Chick-fil-A site are expected to contain an ABC Liquor store and possibly a Chipotle with a tenant for a third building unknown. County staff said a liquor variance was approved last year by Polk County for one of the parcels. A recent post to Facebook shows a Chipotle is coming too, but neither the county or the engineers would confirm that
Nearly two years ago, the South Lakeland Chick fil-A at 4625 S. Florida Ave. received improvements to its drive-thru lanes. The interior was also remodeled and traffic flow improved in the parking area to avoid stacking onto Florida Avenue or Alamo Drive.
In Polk County, the Chick-fil-A website shows other restaurant locations in Bartow, North Lakeland, Southeastern University, Winter Haven and Davenport.
Currently, the Atlanta-based fast-food chain serves breakfast, lunch and dinner at more than 3,000 restaurants in 48 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and Canada, its website said.
Chick-fil-a plans to expand in Europe and Asia this year, with plans to open restaurants in additional international markets by 2030.
The family-owned and privately held restaurant company was founded in 1967 by S. Truett Cathy, who had decided earlier in his career to close the restaurants every Sunday for employees to rest and worship if they choose.
By the time this store is ready for business and Marsha and Ted are paid off, the TCO has got to exceed $5M. That’s a lot of sandwiches to sell. The profit margin must be very lucrative. BTW – FDOT – when are you going to upgrade S. Fla? It needs to be 6 lanes with turn lanes and curbs.