Chick-fil-A to add restaurant on west side

Last edited 1:31 p.m., Jan. 16, 2025 [Editor's note: The property ownership has been clarified.]

A new Chick-fil-A restaurant is in the works on the west side of Springfield.

A spokesperson for Atlanta, Georgia-based Chick-fil-A Inc. provided a statement to Springfield Business Journal confirming plans for a restaurant on West Sunshine Street.

The exact address was not disclosed in the statement. However, a rendering in a city building permit shows the roughly 5,000-square-foot restaurant at the northeast corner of Sunshine and McCurry Avenue, between Sunshine and University Street. The store address included with the rendering is 3801 W. University St., though building permits also note a 3801 W. Sunshine St. address.

Curtis Jared, managing member of Alliance Capital Investors, said the entity owns the parcel shown in the rendering and would lease it to Chick-fil-A. A rezoning to highway commercial from general commercial went before Springfield City Council in September, with McCurry Plaza listed as the applicant.

The restaurant is expected to open in late fall 2025 or early 2026, according to the Chick-fil-A statement. The ownership of the locally owned and operated restaurant was not disclosed.

"The Chick-fil-A business is built to add positive impact to the communities we serve, and our local owner-operators do this by supporting the development of their team members, cultivating relationships with local organizations and businesses, and tailoring philanthropic efforts to meet the local community’s needs," the statement reads. "We are excited by the prospect of joining this neighborhood, where each locally owned and operated restaurant creates 80-120 jobs."

The spokesperson declined to disclose the expected cost for the West Sunshine restaurant. The parcel is in front of Menards, and Springfield Plaza is across the street.

Chick-fil-A's most recent Springfield restaurant opened in January 2024 at 2355 N. Glenstone Ave., according to past reporting. The restaurant chain's website lists five current stores in Springfield, comprising the North Glenstone location, 425 W. Sunshine St., 3700 S. Glenstone Ave. and a shop apiece at Battlefield Mall and Missouri State University.