There are big plans in the works for downtown Tempe, but with the changes come a few closures. Late last year, the city lost the Chili's restaurant that had been open on the southeast corner of Mill Avenue and University Drive since 1989. And now some more classics are on the way out.
College students will be sad to hear the 24-hour IHOP on Apache Boulevard will soon close, as will the W.M. Sacks Art of Sandwicherie at 35 East Ninth Street.
See also: Twin Palms Hotel in Tempe to Close for Remodel
The IHOP will close June 1, about two weeks after the adjacent Twin Palms hotel closes its doors for a remodel. The hotel, which has been open since the 1970s, will be renovated and renamed before reopening in October.
For years, the restaurant has been a go-to late night spot for hungry students. The hotel has not yet announced what will take the restaurant's place.
Meanwhile Sacks, on the southwest corner of University and Mill, is being ousted to make way for a mixed-use development project that will include a 30,000-square-foot conference center, a 4,500-seat exhibition arena, a 330-room luxury hotel, a 500-unit apartment complex, and retail and office space.
An official closing date for the restaurant has not been set; delays in the development process have allowed Sacks to continue operating so far. Employees say the restaurant will be open through at least this week, though they're hoping to stay open until the end of May.
Sacks, which has another location at 839 West University Drive (on the southeast corner of University Drive and Hardy Drive), has been open for more than 20 years.
