It didn’t take long for the old Sam Miller’s space to get snapped up.

Elevation Sports Bar is preparing to open in the space at 1212 E. Cary St. in Shockoe Slip, where longtime restaurant and oyster bar Sam Miller’s ended a decades-long run earlier this year.

Elevation is led by Lorenzo Cheatham and Javontae Jones. Jones also owns the nearby Eden Restaurant & Bar and previously owned The Riviere in the Arts District and Fan club Aura Bar & Grill. The venture is Cheatham’s first as a restaurant owner.

Elevation’s menu is still being finalized but Cheatham said it’ll include wings, lamb chops and other fried staples. He added that they’re considering paying homage to Sam Miller’s on the menu.

“We’re looking at keeping oysters, considering that it was Sam Miller’s and they were known as an oyster bar, just to keep that legacy going and to help draw in that clientele that went to Sam Miller’s for 50-something years,” Cheatham said.

Cheatham and Jones recently signed a lease for the entire 6,100-square-foot space. Thalhimer’s Annie O’Connor and Katie Siegel repped the landlord, local investor Alex Griffith, and their colleague Reilly Marchant represented Elevation.

Cheatham said they felt there was room in the market for a sports bar in the Slip, particularly after the Buffalo Wild Wings a few blocks down closed three years ago.

Elevation’s planned to have over 35 TVs, along with a pool table and dart boards. Cheatham said they’re looking into having a “FanDuel Lounge,” an area sponsored by the sportsbook with devices on which people can place bets on games.

The sports bar is planned to be open daily for lunch and dinner service, and stay open until midnight during the week and until 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Cheatham said they’re looking to open in October, and that they’re looking to bring Elevation to other markets.

“The plan is to franchise this thing eventually to different cities,” he said, offering Charlotte and Atlanta as options. “This is just the first.”

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