HELENA — Kalispell, Missoula and Billings all have Chick-Fil-A restaurants, so where is Helena’s? Chick-Fil-A was rumored to be coming to the former Shopko site on Custer Ave. and N. Montana Ave., but so far, that hasn’t happened. Viewers wanted to know what is going on with Helena’s Chick-Fil-A? MTN's Marian Davidson set out to get a definitive answer.
According to Helena Community Development Department director Chris Brink, the City Commission was going to consider a survey for the Shopko property on Dec. 19, but that was tabled until Jan. 23. When a revised survey was presented to the city on Jan. 23, Chick-Fil-A was not part of it.
“The owner submitted, and the City Commission approved, a revised survey for only the site upon which the new Chase Bank is located (within the property currently occupied by the former Shopko department store),” Brink wrote in an email to MTN. “The Chick-Fil-A site was not part of the approval request.”
MTN then contacted Citivest, the real estate investment company that owns the property.
According to Citivest project manager Michael Mossman, there are plans to rent out the old Shopko building to three for four different tenants, but none of them are Chick-Fil-A.
“At one time we were planning for a Chick-Fil-A, but that is no longer in the works at this center due to private party constraints within the shopping centers CC&Rs (covenants, conditions and restrictions),” Mossman wrote to MTN.
Finally, MTN went directly to Chick-Fil-A to find out if a location is planned for Helena. A representative said there are no current plans for a Helena restaurant.
“While we hope to serve the Helena community in the future, we cannot confirm a location at this time,” Chick-Fil-A representative Brownlee Hopkins wrote in an email to MTN.
While Chick-Fil-A is not currently planning a Helena location, Brink said a “similar type of restaurant” is conducting site due diligence in the city, but he said “we do knot know what entity the due diligence is being conducted for.”
