Thursday, September 23, 1999
Build it, and they will eat
I-75 area gets better outlets
BY MICHAEL D. CLARK
The Cincinnati Enquirer
UNION TOWNSHIP — Those near the explosive growth of Union Centre Boulevard know about the more than 6 million square feet of business space being constructed in the township.
And that stuff about more than 5,000 jobs, with combined annual salaries for those positions totaling about $200 million, is old news to area office workers and residents.
They instead hunger for news pertaining to a particular type of business development. They hunger for — food.
Full-service restaurant fare, to be precise.
“There are no sit-down eating places out here,” complained Mary Flanagan, a dental hygienist whose office is less than a mile from the new Union Centre Boulevard exit off Interstate 75.
But Ms. Flanagan was making her beef on a full stomach, having just returned from lunch at the first full-service restaurant to open in the Union Centre area. This week a new 250-seat Max & Erma's Restaurant opened at the bustling intersection of Muhlhauser Road and Union Centre Boulevard.
“I'm so glad they're here. We've been looking for a new place to eat. You get tired of McDonald's,” said Ms. Flanagan, who lives in nearby West Chester.
Said co-worker and lunch pal Tammy Wilson: “We've been waiting for this for two years,” since their den tal office opened along West Chester Road.
Southward in the distance, bulldozers kicked up clouds of dust around the construction site of a 295-room Marriott Hotel, across the boulevard from Max & Erma's. Adjacent to the restaurant is a Bob Evans restaurant, which is scheduled to open soon.
Close by, a large corporate office building springs up. A retail strip, which will include a bakery, takes shape as others are in the planning stage.
“It's amazing to see it all pop up,” said Ms. Wilson.
It was all planned amazement, said Judy Carter, Union Township's director of planning and zoning.
“Sit-down, quality restaurants were badly needed,” said Ms. Carter. “These most recent developments are definitely in tune with our community's vision for Union Centre.”
Carolyn Chapman, regional manager for Max & Erma's Restaurant Inc., said crowds from the restaurant's first three days have been large. As Ms. Chapman passes through the eatery, which eventually will employ 120 people, she said she hears a common refrain.
“People say they have been waiting years for a restaurant like ours to open here. There hasn't been a whole lot of selection out here,” she said.
Andrea Walter recently moved near the Union Centre area of Union Township. Easy access to I-75 enticed her family to consider moving, and the new restaurants and retail shops closed the deal for them.
“All that just added to the area. They (township planners) have done a really good job,” said Ms. Walter.
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