He said the restaurant will have between 25 to 35 employees and all jobs will be listed on its website.
Developer Tom Harb of Byblos Development Ohio based in Orlando, Fla., said the exterior of the building should be completed by the end of the month and that Chipotle will complete the final interior finishing work before it opens.
“Everybody is excited about this project and it is one of the few with a drive-thru,” Harb said. “It’s a good investment.”
Harb said Middletown city officials have been helpful and were wonderful to work with on this project.
“They made it easy for us,” he said. “The code is thorough and it was not a challenge to follow the code. Why go there if it was challenging.”
Harb said he hopes people will visit the new Chipotle and “help make the economy go again.”
The project was approved by the Middletown Planning Commission in February 2019 but was delayed for the outlot at 3455 Towne Blvd. after the developer decided to changed the orientation of the building from facing Towne Boulevard to having the entrance facing the other outlot businesses such as Buffalo Wild Wings, Sport Clips, GNC and Aspen Dental.
Also Gabe’s officials asked the developer to revise the plans because they did not like the Dumpster location in the original plan. City officials said the only other change was a reduction in the building size from 2,400 square-feet to 2,314 square-feet. The planning commission approved that change in September 2019.
The building will still feature a pick-up window on the north side facing the Gabe’s store. However, Chipotle’s pick-up window is different from other restaurants as customers have to order their food by a mobile or online device before it can be picked up.
City officials also said that Chipotle was identified as a highly desired restaurant by city residents who participated in the 2017 “What If” Middletown visioning community outreach survey. The “What if Middletown” visioning process was an initial step to publicize the Master Plan and other community planning processes.
Officials said it brought together various groups of the community member and residents to identify problems, identify potential new development types, and build a collaborative approach to improve the quality of life for Middletown residents.
There are two Chipotle locations near Middletown along Interstate 75 — one at the Ohio 63 exit in Monroe and another at the Ohio 73 exit for Franklin/Springboro.
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