Restaurant Approved For Imperia ‘Event Center’ Complex

Architect Joseph Saphire describes the project to the zoning board.

The final piece of what the property owner calls an “event center” on Cedar Grove Lane received approval March 2 from the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

Rukh Cedar Grove Lane Properties received an amended site plan approval for a stand-alone restaurant on the property shared by the recently opened Springhill Suites and The Imperia catering hall.

The developer received approval for a restaurant on that site in 2010, but could not find a national franchise willing to locate there, the board was told.

So, owner Ruben Patel decided to open the second of his Twenty/20 Taphouse restaurants, the first of which is in Canton, Ohio.

The approximately 6,100-square-foot restaurant will cater to families and offer typical bistro fare, Scott Yaeger of Radius Hospitality told the board. Radius manages the Springhill Suites hotel, which Patel also owns, and will manage the restaurant.

“It’s a mixed menu,” he said. “There’s a small bar, craft beer is one of the beer crazes today, so we’ll try to capitalize on that.”

The restaurant will close at midnight on Sundays through Wednesdays, and at 2 a.m. on Thursdays through Saturdays, he said.

Joseph Saphire, the project’s architect, said the restaurant’s colors will match those of the hotel. There will also be architectural features on the rear of the building to mimic those on the front, he said.

The project will be taller than the generic restaurant approved in 2010, Saphire said, because the building’s mechanicals – HVAC and a kitchen exhaust fan vent – need to go on the roof. They will be masked by a 5-foot-high wall along the perimeter of the roof, he said.

“I hope that my client delivered what he said he was gong to deliver,” attorney Peter Lanfrit said. “The hotel is appropriate in that spot, it’s an enhancement. The restaurant will also be an enhancement, not only to the property, but to the community.”

“I would be remiss to not say this applicant has delivered what was expected,” board chairman Robert Thomas said. “I just can’t believe its been seven years.”

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