Developers are negotiating a property deal that would allow a new drive-thru to pull into Detroit
Savvy Sliders hopes to expand its footprint soon by opening a location at 6181 Cadieux Road on the east side of town.
Famous for their hand-breaded chicken fingers, fresh-to-order Angus beef sliders and seasoned French fries, Savvy is a burgeoning fast-casual franchise with 34 locations across Michigan and Ohio, according to its website.
The proposed developers are working through red tape with city officials. Detroit’s planning commission is considering a rezoning permit needed to construct the restaurant.
The proposed restaurant is still in the very early planning stages. Savvy Sliders officials say they’ve yet to name a franchisee to oversee the new location, which would be the first in east Detroit.
Rob Kirma, a director of Savvy Sliders’ design and construction team, indicated the franchise will take ownership of the site and develop it themselves once all the permitting is in place. He estimated it will take about six months to break ground after the city gives the green light.
There was no clear construction timetable or word on a possible opening date.
The Cadieux Road property sits just south of Interstate 94 in the East English Village neighborhood on a vacant lot currently owned by a group of brothers that run a nearby gas station.
At a February public hearing, one of the owners, Ibrahim Bazzi, told planning officials he presented the idea of selling the property to Savvy Sliders about a year ago.
“I already wanted to develop that site and the opportunity presented itself,” said Bazzi, who’s owned local businesses in the area for the past 30 years. “I’m hoping to revive, rebuild and enhance the neighborhood and help develop a site that’s going to help the community in a positive way.”
The site was a Chase Bank that closed down. After the branch left in 2017, Bazzi and his brothers bought the property and demolished the building.
Now Savvy Sliders wants to buy the lot and build a 2,200 square-foot burger joint with a drive thru. It would become the city’s fourth Savvy Sliders. Detroit already has locations open on Woodward Avenue, Greenfield Road and Livernois Avenue.
City leaders were set to consider the Cadieux Road rezoning last month, but developers asked to postpone the vote. Savvy Sliders’ buildout team wanted more time to meet with residents and business owners in East English Village to address some of the issues they’ve raised, primarily concerns that the new restaurant will increase traffic on Cadieux Road. The proposal’s expected to go before the planning commission at a later date.
“We do plan on working with the community as this progresses,” Kirma said at the February public hearing. “It’s a little premature…Once the re-zoning receives approval, we can start to pin down the design completely and start having more discussions with the neighbors and the neighborhood committees to ensure that we’re developing a site that everybody’s going to enjoy.”
