Mafiaoza's restaurant, Harris Teeter will anchor project
Williamson AM
By RACHEL STULTS
February 26, 2008
FRANKLIN — Development in Westhaven has progressed beyond home building, and developers are now in full-swing recruitment mode to fill in the gaps with retail and entertainment options in the community's town center.
Mafiaoza's Pizzeria & Neighborhood Pub will be the first restaurant in the mixed-use community off Highway 96 west of Franklin, developer Southern Land Co. announced Monday.
The 3,000-square-foot restaurant will include an 1,800-square-foot patio and will have a similar look and feel as its 12South counterpart, said Michael Dolan, co-owner and chief manager of Mafiaoza's.
A 48,000-square-foot Harris Teeter store has been announced as an anchor tenant for the community and is scheduled to open by the fall of 2009. A yet-to-be-named wine and spirits store will occupy a space near the grocery.
Developers say Mafiaoza's will serve as a "mini-anchor" of the town center, and they say they hope the announcement will spur interest from other tenants looking to expand to west Franklin.
"We want to solidify our anchors and then begin focusing on restaurants and boutiques," said Creighton Wright, vice president of commercial development for Southern Land. "Mafiaoza's is evidence we've reached that milestone where we're beginning to look at entertainment options."
Once completed, Westhaven Town Center will contain approximately 250,000 square feet of commercial space and up to 50 residential units.
Three other buildings are nearing completion in the community's town center: the Health and Business Building, which features a Vanderbilt Medical Group practice, Sara Northcutt Dentistry, and Westhaven Pharmacy; the Westhaven sales center; and the Regions Bank building, which should be under construction sometime this year.
About 700 homes are up in Westhaven and 150 more are under construction, Wright said. At build-out, Westhaven will have 2,700 homes.
Chain reaction
Construction on the new Mafiaoza's location is scheduled to begin this summer, with the pizzeria expected to open in the fall of 2009.
"Folks down in Williamson County already have a lot of opportunities in Cool Springs, which is a huge draw for chains," Dolan said of his reason to expand to Westhaven. "But as a locally owned restaurant, we like to look at locations that create a sense of community. . . . What they're building is almost a small town, and this gives us the neighborhood feeling we want."
Dolan says many of his current customers are from Williamson County and have been asking for a location closer to home.
"We've got people who have been lining up for a long time waiting for us to open," Dolan said. "They've been dying for something inside there (Westhaven) and now they've seen development of the commercial area, so people are really champing at the bit to get something local for themselves."
Mafiaoza's also is building a location in the new Cumberland Yacht Harbor in Donelson and will open another location in Birmingham, Ala., in April.
Kelly Black, owner of Pie in the Sky, a pizzeria in Cool Springs, says he's excited to see more independent restaurants expand to Williamson County, where chain eateries have long dominated. But he's still waiting to see how Mafiaoza's, known for its trendy spot in the 12South neighborhood, will translate in Williamson County.
"I've never seen what they're going to do in a suburban area," said Black, who has owned Pie in the Sky in Cool Springs since 2001. "That's such a different take for them, and it's an interesting choice they've made."
Contact Rachel Stults at 771-5415 or rstults@tennessean.com.