Riverdale Diner Site to Become Raising Cane’s After Demolition Approved

Once a community staple, the Riverdale Diner is set to become a Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers restaurant

After years of sitting empty, the site will undergo a massive overhaul. This includes demolition, according to NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) records.

Raising Cane's is a fast-food restaurant chain founded in Lousiana in the 1990s. The menu centers around chicken fingers and its famous Cane's Sauce. It would be the first built in the Bronx. 

In August, the DOB approved five other construction applications, including new storm drains and parking lot changes. 

George and Anna Kaperonis ran the Riverdale Diner at 3657 Kingsbridge Ave. since the 1960s. It remained a beloved neighborhood spot until a kitchen fire in April 2022 forced its closure. George died in early August of this year.

The property is now owned by 3627 Kingsbridge Avenue LLC, an offshoot of real estate development firm Wharton Properties. Developers often create separate Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) to keep risks and finances of each property distinct.

Valon Gjonbalaj, a property manager at Wharton, is listed as the owner.

Wharton purchased the site in Dec. 2023 for $7.1 million from Maddd Kingsbridge LLC, with Snowcap LLC as the seller.

DOB records from Dec. 12, 2023 show an engineering firm conducted a study titled “Proposed Raising Cane’s Chicken Finger’s Restaurant” at the former diner site.

The 66-page document is called a  geotechnical engineering report, and was prepared for an environmental consultant to assess whether the soil was safe to build on.

It is unclear whether the report was initiated by Wharton or Maddd, but it was submitted to the DOB in Sept. 2023 and approved.

Raising Cane’s Restaurant LLC appears on several subsequent documents.

In the last year, nine of the 15 job filings submitted through DOB Build, the city’s online construction-tracking-system, were approved.

Street-level work includes curb cuts — lowering curbs for vehicle access — along with new pavement, striping for parking spaces and traffic lanes, and grading, or leveling the surface for construction.

The only feature approved for the new building’s interior is a sprinkler system.

Several stormwater management projects were also greenlighted, including inlets to collect rainwater, conveyance piping to transport it, and an underground retention system to store excess water temporarily.

One of the most recent approvals, on Aug. 21, authorized full mechanical demolition, meaning electric hand-held tools will be used to tear down the site. Nothing above ground will remain after demolition.

Not all construction costs are listed, but those filed so far total $1,055,000, excluding fees.

Records also show six active violations related to boiler safety, totaling $6,000 in fines. Most were issued in Nov. 2023, before Wharton took ownership, though two date to Sept. 2024.

Wharton founder Jeff Sutton owns stakes in more than 120 properties citywide, including dozens along Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. His deals with luxury retailers such as Prada and Giorgio Armani range from $200 to $350 million.

According to state court records, Wharton is the defendant in four active cases, dating from 2015 to 2021. All fall under “tort-other negligence,” meaning someone claims to have been harmed due to carelessness.

Wharton Properties did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

For the Riverdale Diner, it remains unclear when construction will begin,  or when the building will be permanently gone. But its legacy as a cherished Bronx landmark — where generations of neighbors gathered over coffee, jukebox music, and hot meals — will endure.