CHANDLER, AZ — The first round of restaurants and businesses expected to open at the "New Square" development in downtown Chandler could open as early as the first quarter of the new year.
So far, DC Steakhouse, a family-owned restaurant in downtown Chandler, Great Western Bank, a South Dakota-based bank with four locations in the Valley, WellSky, a health care software company, and Hilton Garden Inn are all confirmed to open at the multi-use development, which is currently under construction near Arizona Avenue and Chicago Street, across from Chandler City Hall, confirmed Jennifer Dellinger, director of marketing at HCW Development, in an email to ABC15.
The development consists of four buildings -- a five-story office building, a three-story office and retail building, a single-story building, and Hilton's 110-room hotel -- plus a parking garage and a central lawn area with an outdoor stage.
A groundbreaking ceremony was in October 2018. HCW and Chandler-based Spike Lawrence Ventures are behind the project.
Lorie Laplant, who owns DC Steakhouse with her husband, Dean, said she and her husband anticipate opening their restaurant at New Square in March.
Currently, they are located a mere yards away on the corner of Boston Street and San Marcos Place in the heart of downtown Chandler. She said they hope to make it a seamless transition between closing the current location, which is open, and opening the new one.
The new location will allow them to expand all parts of their restaurant, she said. It will be nearly 1,000-square-feet larger inside than their current location, have a larger patio that overlooks the lawn area (their current patio has room for five tables), a bigger bar, a bigger kitchen, and a private dining room.
The larger kitchen will allow them to add more items to the menu and be able to accept to-go orders, she said. Currently, they have had to decline to-go orders so to not overwhelm the kitchen and to be able to focus their service on dine-in customers.
According to HCW's website, Hilton's hotel will have 110 rooms, 65 king rooms and 45 queen rooms, a restaurant and bar, outdoor swimming pool and fireplace, and a workout facility.
Dellinger, spokesperson for HCW, said the hotel was expected to open in April. Great Western Bank would open in mid-January, she said. However, a spokesperson for Great Western Bank said "early spring."
WellSky is expected to open in April, she said.
