EXCLUSIVE

Three new fast food restaurants will open in Covington, soon -- one for the first time in the city's history.

MB Land Company will develop a new Wendy's that will stand alone and a new commercial structure that will house an Arby's and Chipotle, the popular burrito chain, on a piece of property that touches Fourth, Philadelphia, and Bakewell Streets. The development on property owned by Frisch's (which operates a restaurant nearby) will require the demolition of the building that currently houses the Smilin' Smoker and which was used in previous years as a fast food restaurant.

The proposed development was presented to Covington's Board of Adjustments on Wednesday evening. MB Land Company is based in Bellevue and the application was made by Mike Brandy whose company's work includes a Kroger in Burlington, a Walmart in Dry Ridge, the Walmart, Home Depot, Kohl's, and Target in Florence, among other national commercial chains in the region, and the Stone Creek Towne Center in Colerain Township, Ohio.

The new fast food options will be located in the city's fast food district, dubbed "Hamburger Heaven" during the development of the 2012 Center City Action Plan which made multiple suggestions to make the area more attractive. While the addition of more fast food restaurants was not among those recommendations, the area serves the thousands of employees at the IRS office complex nearby, other Downtown Covington employees, and even workers from Downtown Cincinnati who visit from the Brent Spence or Clay Wade Bailey Bridges.

The Wendy's that will be constructed is a new prototype developed by the Ohio-based fast food hamburger chain.

Renderings of planned Wendy's

The developers asked for variances to the amount of space between its parking lot and the sidewalk (a reduction from the required seven feet to five feet), a larger than usual sign for the Wendy's and an additional sign on the facade. All variances were approved by the Board of Adjustments.

Aside from the Smilin' Smoker, most of the valuable property is vacant. A rendering of the Arby's and Chipotle facility was no available Wednesday evening.

The developer expects work to begin in the winter and for the restaurants to open in the spring. He also mentoned that the Wendy's will be operated as a franchise, the Chipotle will be a corporate store, and the Arby's deal is not yet final.

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Written by Michael Monks, editor & publisher of The River City News

Photo: Site of planned Wendy's, Arby's, and Chipotle in Covington/RCN