Below is my original article, researching what would be built.
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The old Romano's Macaroni Grill building at 2105 Route 35 in Holmdel has been torn down, leaving Chili's standing alone with a large fenced construction area next door.
You may recall that Macaroni Grill closed a while ago and a hibachi place was supposed to open in the space. There were unexplained delays, signs in the window, and then Superstorm Sandy put a serious dent in the empty restaurant's infrastructure and that was that. No hibachi place ever materialized.
The new construction has been marked out on the ground and something is apparently to be erected in the next couple of months. The Holmdel-Hazlet Patch published a 2 December 2013 article saying that a Texas Roadhouse steak restaurant would be opening in this spot in July 2014. (Texas Roadhouse has a new locations web page, and I didn't see a listing for a new Holmdel location as pending.)
Holmdel Mayor Patrick Impreveduto bragged in a 16 January 2014 article in The Independent that the new Texas Roadhouse restaurant opening would help the Route 35 corridor revitalization project. He attributed the new restaurant to a reworking of local commercial development standards in 2013, including changes to zoning classifications and height restrictions, that have attracted commercial developers.
Texas Roadhouse obtained its alcohol license in 2013 from a holding company that had sold the license in 2011 - likely to the hibachi restaurant - but got it back due to the buyer's bankruptcy. Holmdel Township renewed the inactive license in June 2014 while construction of the restaurant was still underway, according to local online paperwork.
Texas Roadhouse Steak Restaurant has announced it will open its Holmdel site in October 2014. I've updated the article I wrote back in June.
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