At the northeast corner of Gilbert Road and American Heroes Way, across from the Gilbert Municipal Complex, this Whataburger restaurant fills a vacant 1.42-acre pad within the Gilbert Town Center, a planned retail development at Gilbert and Warner Roads. The project brings a Whataburger of about 3,000 square feet with indoor seating and a two-lane drive-through, designed to fit alongside the other buildings in the center while following Whataburger's corporate design themes.
Our team guided the project from pre-application through final approval by the Town of Gilbert in September 2024. Working with Whataburger and the property owner's representatives, we prepared the preliminary site plan and pre-application, then delivered the civil engineering package through several permit review cycles: a final drainage report and grading and drainage plans that build on the master development's approved drainage design, a final sewer capacity report with a new 6-inch service and a 1,500-gallon grease interceptor to treat kitchen wastewater, and a final water capacity report supported by a certified fire hydrant flow test and hydraulic modeling. The water design reuses the existing domestic and irrigation meters and taps the existing 6-inch fire line lead, and modeled pressures of 74 psi comfortably exceed the Town's 40 psi minimum.
The site plan is designed for simple, intuitive circulation. The building runs parallel to Gilbert Road with its entry facing into the center, and the drive-through wraps the north and west sides, where queued cars create less congestion and distraction in the center's driveways, with a screen wall on three sides to soften the view of the drive-through. Stacking meets the Town's requirements without encroaching on parking or drive aisles, the trash enclosure offers refuse trucks a one-way route from either direction, and site lighting matches the rest of the center without spilling onto adjacent streets or parcels. The plan provides 55 parking spaces, well above the 31 required, while keeping building coverage to about 5 percent of the lot.
