By STEPHANIE BRUMFIELD / Staff Writer

CHELSEA – It’s been several years in the making, but Applebee’s is finally scheduled to open a new restaurant in Chelsea.

Chelsea Mayor Earl Niven said the idea has been talked about off and on for the last three years, but it’s become more definite within the last couple of months.

“I’m excited because it gives us another sit-down restaurant (in Chelsea),” Niven said. “It will mean a national restaurant coming into town that will bring possibly other businesses. It’s going to be a big plus to the economy of Chelsea.”

The new restaurant will be located on U.S. 280 across from the Walmart, said Wade Crawford, marketing director with Quality Restaurant Concepts LLC in Birmingham.

The building plans for the new restaurant have already been started, and Crawford said he hopes to have more definite information on the opening date of the restaurant after the first of the year. Niven said he hoped the restaurant would be built in 2014.

“We have had intentions to build in Chelsea for some time,” Crawford said. “Chelsea is ready for a full service restaurant, and Applebee’s is a perfect fit.”

Niven said the city of Chelsea has seen double-digit growth in sales tax revenues within the last two years, and he expects the new Applebee’s to add to that growth.

“It’s always good to have a nationally known restaurant come to your city,” Niven said. “We know that the people here will support it and that they will be very successful.”