Developer seeks approval for P.F. Chang's Chinese restaurant in Grand Rapids

A site plan request and liquor license application is slated to go before the planning commission on Thursday.

The proposed 7,700-square-foot, single-story restaurant would also include a 900-square-foot outdoor patio in the commercial development planned along East Beltline Avenue NE just north of Knapp Street.

Benner said he didn't have a timetable for the project. He declined to discuss the project further.

The business could generate as many as 45 full-time and another 45 part-time positions, according to the city application.

The closest P.F. Chang's is in Lansing. The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based chain is known for its stylized exteriors that feature 11-foot-tall horse statues at its entrance to symbolize the original Forbidden City in China.

So far, Benner's project only has a D&W Fresh Market, an upscale grocery store, which opened in May.

Announced in 2008, the project stalled until last summer when Spartan Stores Inc., which owns D&W stores, and Lamar Construction Co. agreed to buy its site and finance the project.

Plans to build a Walgreens pharmacy are on hold over a request for a curb cut near the Knapp-East Beltline intersection that was denied by the city's Board of Zoning Appeals.

"We had significant concerns about safety," City Planning Director Suzanne Schulz said.

Benner has appealed that decision to Kent County Circuit Court which is expected to hear the dispute on July 22.

Further development is also on hold until Benner fixes an infiltration basin on the northeast corner of the property, Schulz said.

Despite Benner's struggles with the city, Schulz says she would like to see P.F. Chang's built in the development. "We are hoping if a P.F. Chang's is successful, we'll have more build out at the site and complete the project," she said.