Raising Cane’s proposes new south San Jose location at furniture store site

SAN JOSE — Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers is eyeing a new restaurant on a busy south San Jose street at a site now occupied by a furniture store, documents on file with city officials show.

The casual dining chain is floating a proposal to establish a restaurant at 1030 and 1040 Blossom Hill Rd., a location currently leased to a La-Z-Boy furniture store. Changes would include a “redevelopment” of the existing one-acre site on Blossom Hill Road near Almaden Expressway, planning documents show.

The current building totals 19,600 square feet, according to a marketing brochure prepared by CBRE commercial real estate brokers Matt Kircher and Meaghan Post.

The Raising Cane’s building would be significantly smaller — approximately 3,000 square feet — than the existing retail structure, the restaurant chain’s proposal shows.

A site plan for the project shows two drive-thru lanes that appear to be able to accommodate up to 20 vehicles at a time. A canopy would cover part of the drive-thru section.

The future restaurant site would also include parking spaces as well as spaces for customers to pick up a mobile order.

The project would involve the alteration or demolition of some or all of the existing building, according to the proposal.

The property consists of two parcels with different owners. It wasn’t immediately clear whether Raising Cane’s had plans to buy either or both parcels.

This proposal arrives at a time when Raising Cane’s has been eyeing expansion in the Bay Area with plans for restaurants in locations such as east San Jose and Hayward.

Raising Cane’s also has staked a claim at a potential restaurant site in Berkeley, where the company paid $12.7 million for a Telegraph Avenue property near UC Berkeley.