A global fast-food franchise is preparing to bring its joyful chicken brand to Sterling Heights later this year.
Jollibee, the popular Philippines-based chain, recently announced plans to soon open their first to-go chicken shack in the state.
Construction of the new fast-casual restaurant is underway at 44945 Woodridge Drive in Sterling Heights.
“We look forward to extending our joyful dining experience,” Jollibee North America president Maribeth Dela Cruz said in a news release, according to the Macomb Daily.
The long-awaited Sterling Heights location will be setback off the high-traffic Hall Road, built on the ruins of the razed Denny’s restaurant that once anchored the Eastlake Commons Shopping Center at the front of Lakeside Mall.
“Jollibee’s a quick-growing, international restaurant,” said Gabe Schuchman, managing director of Alrig USA, a West Bloomfield Hills company that owns the property. “Their phenomenal, phenomenal concept brings a lot of excitement to that area. Just shows the intrinsic value of the Hall Road corridor and being at the Lakeside Mall.”
Schuchman said his commercial real estate investment firm has been working with Jollibee the past three years to develop the property into a 2,500 square-foot outpost of the world renown fried chicken eatery. It will feature a drive-thru and outdoor patio situated along a busy stretch that sees more than 100,000 cars pass by each day, Schuchman estimated.
“We’re helping them build the building to get that location open,” he said. “There are some really extraordinary residential pockets all throughout there, just a phenomenal place to do business.”
Jollibee was founded in the Philippines in 1978 and boasts a roster of over 1,500 stores in 17 different countries. Its presence in the United States encompasses 69 stores spread across 13 different states.
In starting construction of the Sterling Heights site, the franchise literally broke ground in Michigan. The Wolverine State remains untapped by Jollibee’s menu of mouth-watering Yumburgers, crispy chicken sandwiches, Jolly spaghetti and the signature Chickenjoy fried chicken.
Company officials did not give an exact date for the grand opening, but the news release indicated the Sterling Heights location should open in the coming months, Macomb Daily reported.
