Jill Hattan’s next venture isn’t another car dealership, but it does involve wheels

The Redbud Trail, which is out Jill Hattan’s back door in Andover, has inspired the automobile dealer to venture into a new line of work: restaurants.

Hattan moved back to Andover in 2018 and started running the trail. She kept noticing an empty lot at mile marker .9.

“Man, somebody should really do something with that,” Hattan said she kept thinking to herself.

Finally, she decided she was the one to do it, and that’s how the idea for Point Nine was born.

Point Nine will be an indoor-outdoor restaurant and venue of sorts for families and all kinds of active people who might be out on bike rides with friends or on a walk with their kids and would like a casual spot to stop for food and fun. Hattan is calling it a trailside eatery.

“For me, I really do kind of get tired of people . . . complaining about not enough fun things to do in Wichita and not doing anything about it,” she said.

“It’s just a cool thing we need.”

Point Nine will open next spring at 1533 N. Andover Road.

“We will be offering kind of I would say upscale casual food,” Hattan said. “We will offer a lot of sandwiches, pizza (and) quite a bit of grab-and-go.”

There also will be shareable items and picnic baskets people can take on walks or their bikes.

Hattan said there’s a “kind of outdoor enthusiasts’ theme.”

The almost one-acre property will have a dog friendly outdoor area where kids can play, too.

Outdoor seating will be enclosed in colder months.

“We’ll try to extend the outdoor season,” Hattan said.

She’s working with the city of Andover on a community improvement district to create extra parking at the site so people can park, visit Point Nine and explore the trail.

“That’s really what that’s about,” Hattan said.

She’s been working on the idea for a couple of years — so long that she’s lost her original managing partner.

Hattan is looking for a new one, including someone who may one day want to take over the business.

With built-in help from her dealerships, which have things like marketing and accounting departments, Hattan said it would be an easier way for someone to get a start to owning his or her own restaurant.

Hattan “would love for it to help someone get going,” she said.

She said restaurant owners have told her she’s crazy, “which I am a little bit.”

Hattan said they’ve warned her restaurants aren’t easy.

“But neither are car dealerships.”