Dave & Buster’s, three other restaurants seeking to locate at Bay Park Square

By Kevin Boneske

Staff Writer

ASHWAUBENON – The village’s Site Plan Review Committee will be asked July 2 to consider a proposal for a Dave and Buster’s restaurant and arcade to locate in the former Younkers Furniture Gallery, said Community Development Director Aaron Schuette.

In addition, Schuette said he has received plans related to three other restaurants seeking to locate on two outlots along Oneida Street in Bay Park Square near the Anderson Drive entrance.

He said those plans call for a Panda Express Chinese Kitchen on an outlot south of IHOP and two restaurants – Blaze Pizza and Mission BBQ – on an outlot together in one building located just north of the Longhorn Steakhouse.

“There’s two outlots and a new store going into Bay Park Square, which is great news,” Schuette said. “We’re all pretty excited about progress. It’s been a long haul getting to this point. I think everybody has been a little down on it, but at the same time we were always kind of working in the background. We all knew there were good things on the horizon… We’re pretty excited about it.”

The Bay Park Square shopping mall, which is owned by Simon, has faced the loss of tenants that included Younkers closing last year and the pending closure of Shopko with that company having filed this year for bankruptcy.

Les Morris, a spokesperson for Simon, said the company is excited to redevelop the Bay Park Square.

“As always, when we have real estate we control we view it as a great opportunity to bring in uses that are more attractive to our Green Bay area customers,” Morris said. “I can’t comment on specific retailers or the status of lease negotiations because our policy is not to comment on these matters until all leases are executed and approvals secured, but I can tell you there is a great deal of interest in stores and restaurants coming to Bay Park Square and we look forward to making exciting announcements in the near future.”

According to the site plans provided to the village, Dave & Buster’s would occupy more than 27,000 square feet in the mall with approximately 5,500 square feet adjacent to it for retail use.

The plans also note the Panda Express would have approximately 2,200 square feet of usable area in its own building, while on the outlot with two restaurants in one building the Mission BBQ would be around 3,400 square feet with Blaze Pizza having about 2,400 square feet.

Schuette said an amendment to the Bay Park Square’s planned unit development will be considered July 2 by the Site Plan Review Committee and must also be reviewed by the Plan Commission prior to final approval next month by the village board for those restaurants to locate there.