Demolition underway at Mall at Fairfield Commons

Workers have begun to demolish the portion of the Mall at Fairfield Commons that previously held an Elder-Beerman store to pave the way for five new restaurants.

The demolition began Monday morning and will take about 30 days, mall manager Bruce Goldsberry said Tuesday. After demolition is complete, workers will build a new entrance to the mall and perform some of the site work for the restaurant sites.

Two restaurant chains Chuys, an Austin, Texas-based Tex-Mex chain, and Huntington Beach, California-based BJs Restaurant & Brewhouse have filed plans with the city of Beavercreek to open free-standing locations in the newly created space. The Beavercreek locations will be the second Dayton-area restaurants for both chains, which chose Austin Landing for their first in the region.

BJs opened an 8,300-square-foot stand-alone restaurant and pub at Austin Landing in Miami Twp. in September 2013. Chuys is building a 7,460 square foot restaurant in Austin Landing that is scheduled to open in the late spring of 2015, according to Ann Cleator, director of development for Chuys Restaurants.

Three other restaurants, not yet identified, will be attached to the mall after the demolition and renovation work is complete.

Elder-Beerman had operated stores on both ends of the Mall at Fairfield Commons for several years but consolidated into its store on the north side of the mall. The consolidation left vacant the portion of the mall that once housed a Parisian department store.

The demolition began on the same day that shareholders of Glimcher Realty Trust the Columbus-based parent company of the Mall at Fairfield Commons and the Dayton Mall voted in favor of the acquisition of Glimcher by mall and shopping center owners Washington Prime Group Inc., to create a company called WP Glimcher.

Glimcher officials said they expect the transaction to close on Thursday. As part of the deal, Simon Property Group Inc. will acquire two Glimcher properties in Elizabeth, N.J., and Fort Worth, Texas.

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Demolition underway at Mall at Fairfield Commons