Springfield's 2nd Olive Garden to open as Sunshine Towne Center progresses

A soon-to-open Olive Garden restaurant marks ongoing progress at west Springfield development Sunshine Towne Center, which will be anchored by a new Target store.

Jared Commercial & Management LLC, the commercial real estate business of Sunshine Towne Center developer Curtis Jared, announced in a recent Facebook post that the Olive Garden eatery at 3370 W. Sunshine St. would open on June 23. Olive Garden's website lists the same scheduled opening date.

Officials with Olive Garden could not be reached for comment by deadline. However, company spokesperson Brittany Baron told Springfield Business Journal last year that a summer 2025 opening was the goal.

"We’re thrilled to open our second Olive Garden in Springfield and can’t wait to serve guests never-ending amounts of soup, salad and breadsticks when they dine with us," Baron said in September 2024.

Other Sunshine Towne Center tenants on board include BluCurrent Credit Union and Wendy's, according to Jared Commercial & Management's online property brochure for the development. Those offerings are slated to be located in the far northeast corner of Sunshine Towne Center, east of Olive Garden.

In an interview this week, Jared said all three outlets at the Sunshine Towne Center have now been leased. Additionally, the Target store itself is almost fully enclosed and moving along nicely, he said.

Jared said his company is just about done with a layout for its 33,000-square-foot retail center, which will have 10-15 users, depending on the size of space needed.

“We’re getting ready to go full-steam-ahead shortly,” he said.

Several offers have been presented for the retail center, Jared said.

“We’re waiting until we get everything done and locked in,” he said.

The 148,000-square-foot Target store was the original feature of Sunshine Towne Center announced when development plans came into the public eye in late 2023 and early 2024. Past Springfield Business Journal reporting put the price tag of Sunshine Towne Center at roughly $60 million.

Jared said the Target store will have a dual entrance, with an order pickup area on the east side that is designed to be completely away from other customer areas.

Jared expressed his satisfaction with the Sunshine Towne Center development, which he said is moving forward on schedule.

“I think it’s turned out to be a great development – great for that area of town,” Jared said. “I see it spurring on a lot more development around it, and that’s going to be good for the community.”