Applebee's Coming To University Place After All

University Place will be eating good in the neighborhood after all.

Officials and a commercial developer have confirmed to Patch that Applebee's will be opening a location in a new building that will replace the former Fortune Place Buffet building off 40th Avenue West, in what's commonly known as the Albertsons plaza.

Randy Boss, Chief Executive Manager at WWR Properties / Hogan Enterprises, says demolition of the old building could begin the week after the Duck Daze Festival on June 1.

After that, Applebee's "will build their restaurant with an open in the early fall of this year," he said.

"Rather than try to fit a new Applebee’s into the old existing building, we have decided that we will demolish that structure and Applebee’s will build one of their new prototype restaurants on that site," Boss said. "We have had a crew inside the existing building over the past week removing all of the current Asian format furniture, fixtures and equipment - which is being moved to Port Angeles to a new buffet Restaurant there - in advance of the demolition."

The news - which a user broke in Patch's new board section - comes almost two years after Applebee's backed out of a deal to move into the city's Town Center project.

The move left some questioning whether the mixed-use project could deliver on what city officials have been aiming for: the project's appeal to retail tenants.

Mariza Craig, the city's Executive Director and Assistant City Manager for Community & Economic Development, said she doesn't think Applebee's new UP location is an indication of Town Center's appeal.

Street-level parking and other issues simply made the future site - which is literally a few hundred feet away from Town Center - a better fit for Applebee's, she said.

"In the end, it doesn’t matter whether they're in Alberstons or Town Center," she said. "They’re still going to serve residents of UP. They're still going to be part of the community."

So what do you think, Patch users? Are you excited that Applebee's will be coming to University Place after all? Do you like the new location? Tell us in the comments below.