Sunday, July 29, 2007

IHOP land for sale

It looks like we shouldn't be holding our collective breath for that IHOP restaurant that has been "coming soon" on 32nd Avenue South for years now. The land that the restaurant was supposed to be built on, between Arby's and the Village Inn, just had a "For Sale" sign put up the other day.

IHOP used to own land in Bismarck, but eventually sold it and seemingly forgot about their restaurant plans there. I believe they couldn't find anyone willing to buy into the local franchise. From what I had heard in the past, I thought the Fargo franchise people were going to be the same group who was going to open the Grand Forks location. I even spoke with the Fargo franchisee a couple of years ago and they said they were actively working on the plans for the new Grand Forks location. I wonder what went wrong?

I'm sure the plot of land in question costs a pretty penny, but it certainly would be an ideal location for another restaurant. Perhaps Denny's? I know they are searching for a spot on 32nd Avenue near I-29.

11 comments:

Matt BK said...

Well, that's one less IHOP that Grand Forks needs to worry about.

Seriously, how many greasy fast food restaurants does one town need?

Anonymous said...

Denny's has plans submitted to the city for a restaurant next to Wendy's in front of Menards

dale said...

IHOP isn't greasy fast food. It's sugary sit down food.

GrandForksGuy said...

"Denny's has plans submitted to the city for a restaurant next to Wendy's in front of Menards"

Really? I hadn't heard that. Good location I would think.

Anonymous said...

I am a city employee and on the city intra-net site there is a list of submitted building permit applications, and the first anon is right on.

GrandForksGuy said...

An intra-net site that lists building permits? How can I get on this thing!?! Just kidding...but if you ever stumble across anything interesting, be SURE to share...k? If you're not comfortable posting a comment right on the blog, email me at grandforkslife@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

There are a few interesting plans submitted...I can't see any details, just addresses and names of the parties. Plans for apartments in the YWCA building for instance, and what seems like would be a pretty large retirement home of some type at 45th Avenue and South Washington

GrandForksGuy said...

That retirement community is "The View".

Anonymous said...

The home page of The View looks like a script for Saturday Night Live. How bizarre.

I'm not sure Grand Forks needs another assisted living facility. Most of the places in GF/EGF have openings and many people can't afford the cost of the apartments/services. I'm sure they did a market study but you've got to be pretty well off to afford these places.

GrandForksGuy said...

I'm sure they did a market study, but I agree that some of these retirement communities are just too expensive for most seniors. It would be nice if there were more senior apartment complexes that offered rental assistance. As it is, seniors requiring rental assistance don't have too many choices in town and most choices are older buildings...at least that's what my family found a few years ago when trying to find an apartment for a grandparent. Just like we need affordable living options for young families, we also need affordable options for seniors.

Anonymous said...

Not much of an IHOP fan, so it doesn't bug me too much. I would love to see a Macaroni Grill go in there. I miss some good Italian food. On that note, 'l Bistro does have a couple good dishes: Pasta Millano if you like it hot and spicy, Portobello ravioli for pure yummy goodness, and the baked seafood dish is pretty good too. However, I would not suggest trying their signature desert the deep fried cheesecake, it was a disappointment.