Applebee’s signs contract to purchase south Corbin land

A local businessman confirmed this week that national restaurant chain Applebee’s has signed a contract to purchase land in south Corbin, and he is hopeful the deal can be finalized by mid-March.
Real estate developer Jim Vance said the company has plans to open a franchise restaurant near Burger King on Cumberland Falls Hwy. Applebee’s representatives from Birmingham, AL have visited the town and are working with Vance and RJV Properties – the company that officially owns the property – on the potential sale.
“Applebee’s is looking very seriously at coming to Corbin and there’s a good chance they will be here and we will close the deal within the next 45 days,” Vance said. “There’s a lot of other things they are checking on … You know how real estate deals are. I’ve been in many of them and I don’t believe its really going to happen until I get the check.”
City officials also confirmed Tuesday that real estate procurement experts from the company have been to city hall inquiring about permit requirements and other building regulations.
Corbin Mayor Willard McBurney said news of the restaurant chain’s interest was welcome. He believes it could be the beginning of increased activity on the city’s south end.
“Really, I think what is drawing them in is the prospect of the convention center,” he said. “After it gets going, it will be such a drawing card. The farther it comes along, the more that will come along with it.”
Construction is slated to start later this year on a 5,000-seat arena on property above the Corbin Center for Technology and Community Activities. It will be called the Southeast Kentucky Agriculture and Exposition Center and will cost an estimated $18 to $20 million.
Vance cautioned that the contract with Applebee’s contains many contingencies giving the company the right to withdraw from the deal if they choose. RJV Properties, of which Vance is a partner, owns 21 acres of prime real estate just off Cumberland Falls Hwy. in front of the Technology Center, and more commercial property off the Corbin Bypass. He personally owns 40 acres across the roadway between Baptist Regional Medical Center and I-75.
Vance was the principal architect of a successful voter-approved ballot initiative in 2003 that allowed certain restaurants within the city limits to sell alcoholic beverages. He is also part owner of Tuscany Gardens, an Italian restaurant in south Corbin, and claims allowing alcohol to be sold on Sunday would have even more restaurant chains looking at the city for possible franchise opportunities.
“You’d have more restaurants looking hard at this place,” he said. “If we had Sunday sales, it would make it move along more quickly.”
He said he is doubtful that alcohols sales at restaurants will be expanded in the near future. Possible location of an Applebee’s restaurant in Corbin is not contingent upon Sunday sales, he added.
McBurney said neither he nor other members of the Corbin City Commission plan to consider the issue of Sunday sales.
“I don’t think there are too many people disgruntled with the way things are now,” he said. “We haven’t even really discussed it.”