Fennel to Build on Dickson

Joe Fennel plans to begin construction in August on a two-story, at least 10,000-SF building that will serve as a mixed-use development at the corner of Dickson Street and Campbell Avenue in Fayetteville.

Fennel said he will move Bordino’s, the upscale Italian restaurant he owns at 324 W Dickson St., into the new building after it is completed next spring. He plans to lease Bordino’s 2,800-SF space at the old location to another tenant.

The construction project will cost at least $1 million, but Fennel said he couldn’t put an exact dollar figure on the project yet.

Bordino’s will take up space on the first and second floor of the new building, Fennel said. The rest of the space there may be leased as condominiums or offices.

The construction will preserve the existing 1,200-SF building that currently serves as Fennel’s office at 310 W. Dickson St. That building is a Fayetteville landmark of sorts, having served as Jug’s Drive-In a half century ago. Fennel said the old Jug’s building will likely serve as bathrooms in the new structure.

Fennel owns the 0.17-acre lot east of Doe’s Eat Place where the construction will take place. He leases the 9,500-SF building at 324 W. Dickson St. that houses Jose’s Mexican Restaurant, Jose’s Streetside and Bordino’s, all of which comprise Jose Inc.

The new building was designed by Miller Boskus Lack Architects of Springdale. Fennel said the building will blend in with others constructed recently along Dickson Street, such as the Three Sisters Building at 216 W. Dickson St.

Fennel said he plans to enter into a partnership with Angela Stem, the manager of Bordino’s, and Christine Sanderson, the restaurant’s chef, but details of that partnership have yet to be worked out.

Fennel said he is also likely to enact an employee stock option plan next year. Fennel said he has been working on the ESOP for about four years but has yet to “pull the trigger” on it. When he does, Fennel said, he will no longer be the owner of Jose Inc. His employees will own the corporation.

O’Charley’s Slated for Rogers, Fayetteville

O’Charley’s Inc. plans to begin construction on a restaurant in Rogers Scottsdale Center on May 27. That 6,823-SF O’Charley’s is scheduled to open in November, said Les Lockhart, vice president of real estate and development for O’Charley’s Inc. The Rogers restaurant will seat 278 diners.

Also, on May 12, the Fayetteville Planning Commission approved a large-scale development for construction of a 6,417-SF O’Charley’s restaurant in Fayetteville’s CMN Business Park.

The restaurant is slated for a 1.26-acre parcel of land at the intersection of Shiloh Drive and Steele Boulevard. The proposed building would seat 267 diners. Lockhart said plans call for that restaurant to be open by November 2004, but that date could change.

Each O’Charley’s will employ between 115 and 125 full- and part-time workers.

“It’s a great area,” Lockhart said of Northwest Arkansas. “Demographically, we feel like that’s our customer.”

Lockhart said O’Charley’s plans to open 30 restaurants next year.

The company, which is based in Nashville, Tenn., currently has 195 casual-dining restaurants in 16 states in the Southeast and Midwest.