Noodles & Company coming to Westdale Mall

Noodles & Company, a Broomfield, Colo.-based fast-casual restaurant chain, plans to open a second Cedar Rapids location at Westdale in the first quarter of 2016.

Erin Murphy, senior manager of communications at Noodles & Company, said the 2,800-square-foot eatery will seat 70 in the dining room and 28 on an outdoor patio. Murphy said the company expects to hire 25 to 35 employees for the restaurant, which will be located in a building under construction along the Edgewood Road SW perimeter of Westdale.

Noodles & Company operates restaurants at 310 Collins Road NE in Cedar Rapids, 2451 Second St. in Coralville, and in Iowa City's Old Capitol Town Center.

Dave Drown of Edgewood Partners, the developer of the 12,500-square-foot retail center, said Noodles & Company will complement two previously announced tenants - Wingstop, a Dallas-based chain of nostalgic, aviation-themed restaurants and Salt Lake City-based AT&T/Spring Mobile, a subsidiary of retailer GameStop.

Drown said two additional leases in negotiation should complete the leasing of the building, which is expected to open for tenants in early October. Five of the retailers are new to the west side.

'We are in the design and preleasing stage of a second building,” Drown said.

Lisa Rowe, vice president of retail and Westdale general manager, said Frew Development Group's design and construction team have delivered 15 of the 28 development pads on the perimeter of Westdale. Rowe said the remaining pads will be available by the end of this year.

'We have completed the horizonal infrastructure, including about 75 percent of the mile-long ring road around the interior of the property, and are focused on delivering buildings for new and existing tenants,” Rowe said in an interview.

A new exterior and parking lot for J.C. Penney was completed recently and the Williams Boulevard SW entrance to Westdale reopened to vehicular traffic. Work is progressing on a $3.5 million interior and exterior renovation of J.C. Penney.

The $90 million revelopment of Westdale will transition the 72-acre property into a mixed-use development, including retail, commercial, office, entertainment and green spaces.