April 21, 2021

See that construction site? It’s the future home of Chick-fil-A.

The restaurant has broken ground at Empire Place on West 41st Street in front of The Empire Mall.

Based on typical construction for such a building, that would put Chick-fil-A on track for an opening before Labor Day.

Two multitenant retail centers and a Chase Bank also are under construction.

The momentum for the overall development keeps picking up, said Raquel Blount of Lloyd Cos., who is handling leasing.

“This week alone, we’ve fully executed a letter of intent with a very exciting, popular retailer in the country right now,” she said.

That leaves 3,321 square feet left in the retail center that includes Crumbl Cookies.

There’s also space left in the retail center that includes Verizon Wireless.

“And that available space in both centers can be divided,” Blount said.