Restaurants flock to Furys Ferry Road
Sold signs are planted in the property next to Publix on Furys Ferry Road. The land recently was purchased to build a new McDonalds at the site.
Photo by Vicky Eckenrode
With a wider road and more people moving to the area, Furys Ferry Road is becoming a haven for hungry diners.
Several restaurants are planned in the same vicinity on the eastern section of the road.
Builders are expected to start soon on a McDonald's at the intersection of Vaughn Road. The 300,000-square-foot fast-food restaurant will be next to the Publix grocery store shopping center.
The $600,000 deal to purchase two parcels totaling 1.5 acres from Publix and Tennessee-based PDG Center Partners closed late last month, said Brannon Graybill, of the real estate company Graybill & Associates.
He said the continued commercial growth along Furys Ferry and the current project to widen the road were key reasons for the decision behind building the new McDonald's at the location.
Flanking the other side of the Publix shopping center could be an upscale, sit-down Mexican restaurant.
Dennis Stanfield, a local investor who purchased the property last year, said there are plans to build a Camino Real, which already has a location in Waynesboro, out of the existing building.
The 8,000-square-foot building would be renovated into a 5,000-square-foot space. Mr. Stanfield is still waiting for the Columbia County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday to approve the rezoning of his property to a planned development district, which does not allow for a drive-thru window.
The rezoning already was approved by the county's Planning Commission.
Stanfield said that as the stretch of Furys Ferry grows commercially and nearby neighborhoods become larger, it's natural that the number of restaurant options also will grow and become more diverse.
"I've been in the area as an investor for the last 25 years," he said. "I've seen the growth in that area even before The Pass went in."
County officials approved another rezoning request in January for the construction of a Zaxby's at the intersection of Furys Ferry Road and Park Lane.
George Duehring, who owns four other Zaxby's in the area, said he wants to build a 3,600-square-foot restaurant.