Site work is underway on new infill construction at one of Bartlett’s busiest intersections.

Crews with Grinder Taber Grinder began digging up the parking lot this week for a new freestanding Chipotle restaurant on the northeast corner of the Stage and Kirby Whitten roads intersection.

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The new 2,330-square-foot building, located in Gill Properties’ Stage Centre commercial development, will fill in a section of a large parking lot between the center’s CVS and Dollar General stores.

“Permits are in hand for Chipotle’s construction,” Patty Bullock, Gill Properties senior vice president, said. “(We are) responsible for the site work and building shell, which should take six months to complete.”

Chipotle will be responsible for the interior construction. Bullock anticipates an opening by the end of the year.

Gill Properties President Ray Gill estimates the cost of construction at approximately $2.5 million.

The center picked up two new tenants last year, with Tommy’s Burger California Style moving into a freestanding building previously occupied by Back Yard Burgers and an O’Reilly Auto Parts superstore opening in part of former grocery store space that sat vacant for almost 18 years.

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A 22,000-square-foot space adjacent to O’Reilly’s space remains available.

“We’re speaking with several interested prospects,” Bullock said. “Bartlett is growing, and we would like to make sure we lease to a tenant that aligns with the market’s long-term viability.”

Gill told The Daily Memphian last fall that he wants to build another 10,000-square-foot building behind the Tommy’s Burger California Style building.

Activity near that intersection has increased throughout the past year, with traffic counts hitting 26,854 vehicles per day on Stage and Kirby Whitten roads registering 19,430, according to data from the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

“In ‘24 it was much higher than in ‘23, but there was a decline before that,” Bartlett Traffic Engineer Becky Bailey said.

She expects the $220 million Union Depot mixed-use project at Stage and U.S. 70 to increase those traffic numbers even more in the coming years.

Commercial space at a premium in Bartlett’s big retail centers

Across the intersection from Stage Centre and across Stage Road from Union Depot, one of Bartlett’s oldest strip centers, Stage Road Place, is rumored to be considering extensive facade improvements.

The building owners are hoping to modernize their center before nearly 2,000 new residents are expected to move in at Union Depot across the street throughout the next few years.

Bartlett Alderman Kevin Quinn says he has heard the strip center owners would like to renovate, and he said he hopes they are able to get it done since it’s such a prominent building.

“It’s definitely extremely outdated in the style and has continued to have several vacancies, so maybe that will help keep (tenants),” he said. “Even the best quality business will have problems attracting new clients if the building’s in bad shape or very outdated.”

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The center at 6761 Stage Road opened in the early 1970s and had an Ace Hardware as a main anchor.

Today, it is home to the Stage Road Barber Shop, Bluff City Escape Rooms, Holliday Flowers, Pho 64, Intensity Martial Arts and more.