IRMO, S.C. — Rumors that popular Texas burger chain Whataburger is eyeing a new location in Irmo are true, town officials confirmed to News19 on Thursday.
"Yes, Whataburger is coming to town," Irmo Assistant Town Administrator Douglas Polen said.
The burger chain is planning its new location at 1185 Dutch Fork Road near the Ballentine community next to the Aldi and Starbucks, already under development.
"I think a lot of people are excited to have Whataburger here. It’s a fairly new franchise to the South Carolina area," Polen said. "I know I haven’t eaten there, but my brother lives in Texas, so I’ve heard good things."
Polen said it's in the permitting phase right now, which means Whataburger builders and architects need approval from the town, state and county.
"At this point, it really is bringing in your actual blueprints to the building official, so he’s looking at it. Alright, how does the water connect to the water system? Does the electricity look good in the building?" Polen said. "Those things normally take maybe a couple months as long as everything’s moving back and forth."
Polen said there’s no real difference between bringing in a chain and a local business. Both need proper zoning for a piece of land, permits for engineering plans by county, state and town and, eventually, a business license.
"As the town, what we look at is the building itself. Does it match our aesthetic criteria? How far away from the road is it? Is there enough parking? Does the drive-thru work correctly?" Polen said.
Polen said the town is waiting for Whataburger to send all of its plans to the building inspector for review. Once that’s done, the town said it will take about 48 to 72 hours to issue their permit.
"We try really hard to be easy to work with, fair and friendly. We know this area is growing," Polen said.
According to the developer out of Greenville, Magnolia Property Group, it is finishing up site work in the next few weeks and expects to get its building permit a few weeks after that, breaking ground in the next 30 to 60 days.