Demolition crews tore down part of the Myrtle Beach Mall. What is opening there?
Demolition at one of the Myrtle Beach area’s malls is making way for a new restaurant to open.
In recent weeks, demolition started on part of the Myrtle Beach Mall at 10177 North Kings Highway near Briarcliffe Acres. The project will allow a planned restaurant to open there.
In October 2024, FACE Amusement Group — announced that a Food Network personality and restaurant owner, Guy Fieri, planned to open a new Downtown Flavortown at the Myrtle Beach Mall.
In an email to The Sun News, a spokesperson for FACE Amusement Group said that demolition is part of the Flavortown project. They added that construction starts soon, and the eatery will be 50,000 square feet.
Downtown Flavortown does not yet have an opening date.
A post on the Myrtle Beach Mall’s Facebook page said the grand opening was “several months away.” The post added that the restaurant replaces the now-closed JCPenney location.
The Sun News filed a Freedom of Information Act request with Horry County for the building permit and renderings from the project. The county provided the permit application but did not provide the renderings. A spokesperson for the county said the renderings were copyrighted materials and exempt from FOIA requests.
The permit application states that the Flavortown project’s construction value is $8 million. The project contractor is Charleston, SC-based Arnett Construction, LLC, and the architect is Knoxville, Tenn.-based Johnson Architecture, Inc.
When The Sun News contacted Michael Schmidt of Johnson Architecture, Inc., he declined to comment. A representative for Arnett Construction, LLC, also declined to comment.
The project is part of ongoing efforts to revitalize the Myrtle Beach Mall, which has seen stores close and many empty storefronts left without tenants. In April 2023, Horry County Land Records shows the Tennessee-based Kings Highway Partners I LLC bought the mall for $7.8 million.
The LLC is associated with the Johnson City, Tenn.-based FACE Amusement Group, as the Tennessee Secretary of State’s website shows that FACE Amusement Group CEO Bucky Mabe is the registered agent for the limited liability corporation.
