AUBURN - Don't get ready to savor the Colombia Narino Supremo just yet.
The Starbucks coffeehouse chain is looking at the Grant Avenue plaza where Walgreens is planned, according to the developer, but nothing has been decided.
"We're not saying we're close, but they have indicated to us they are interested," said Guy Hart Jr. of HDL Property Group, LLC, of East Syracuse. "At this phase, we have a lot of (potential) tenants who are saying, 'We're extremely interested, let's talk.' Starbucks is in that category."
Sarah Stroker, spokeswoman for Starbucks, confirmed Auburn could be home for a new store.
"There are no leases signed for Auburn at this time, but we are always looking for good locations in the Northeast," Stoker said. "We are interested."
And Auburn isn't the place in the Finger Lakes that Starbucks is looking. Mike Scherer, property manager for Geneva Centre on Routes 5 and 20, is expecting to hear shortly if the Seattle-based coffee company has decided to come to the plaza there.
Scherer works for the plaza's owners, F M Ferrari Investments of Orange, N.J. He said last week Starbucks has expressed interest in constructing a new standalone building in the strip mall near Eckerd Drugs. That strip's anchor tenants are the drug store, a Staples and Peebles department store.
Preliminary plans for Auburn's Walgreens plaza submitted to the city code enforcement office call for a standalone cafe building that would serve the needs of a tenant like Starbucks, Hart said.
"Something like that," he said. "It's still all conceptual. We may move things around a little."
Hart isn't surprised Starbucks is eyeing many places in the Finger Lakes for possible expansion of the chain that has more than 8,600 locations across the country.
"I believe they are looking really aggressively at the whole region, he said." Auburn, Geneva, Skaneateles, maybe. I imagine they would like to come to all of those places."
There are two Starbucks in the Syracuse area, one on University Hill and the other in Liverpool. Two more are under construction: in Armory Square downtown and in Fayetteville. There are 11 Starbucks in the Rochester area.
Meanwhile, the Auburn planning board has given Hart's group preliminary site plan approval to proceed with work for Walgreens. The former P&C on the site would be demolished and four new buildings constructed. One would house Walgreens, another a bank, a third a sit-down restaurant and the fourth, possibly the Starbucks.
According to the site plan, the Walgreens store in Auburn would be 14,730 square feet. The store would sit at the front of the plaza, directly across the street from a recently-opened Eckerd Drugs. Plans are for Walgreens to open early in 2006.
Staff writer Louise Hoffman Broach can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or louise.hoffman@lee.net
"We're not saying we're close, but they have indicated to us they are interested," said Guy Hart Jr. of HDL Property Group, LLC, of East Syracuse. "At this phase, we have a lot of (potential) tenants who are saying, 'We're extremely interested, let's talk.' Starbucks is in that category."
Sarah Stroker, spokeswoman for Starbucks, confirmed Auburn could be home for a new store.
"There are no leases signed for Auburn at this time, but we are always looking for good locations in the Northeast," Stoker said. "We are interested."
And Auburn isn't the place in the Finger Lakes that Starbucks is looking. Mike Scherer, property manager for Geneva Centre on Routes 5 and 20, is expecting to hear shortly if the Seattle-based coffee company has decided to come to the plaza there.
Scherer works for the plaza's owners, F M Ferrari Investments of Orange, N.J. He said last week Starbucks has expressed interest in constructing a new standalone building in the strip mall near Eckerd Drugs. That strip's anchor tenants are the drug store, a Staples and Peebles department store.
Preliminary plans for Auburn's Walgreens plaza submitted to the city code enforcement office call for a standalone cafe building that would serve the needs of a tenant like Starbucks, Hart said.
"Something like that," he said. "It's still all conceptual. We may move things around a little."
Hart isn't surprised Starbucks is eyeing many places in the Finger Lakes for possible expansion of the chain that has more than 8,600 locations across the country.
"I believe they are looking really aggressively at the whole region, he said." Auburn, Geneva, Skaneateles, maybe. I imagine they would like to come to all of those places."
There are two Starbucks in the Syracuse area, one on University Hill and the other in Liverpool. Two more are under construction: in Armory Square downtown and in Fayetteville. There are 11 Starbucks in the Rochester area.
Meanwhile, the Auburn planning board has given Hart's group preliminary site plan approval to proceed with work for Walgreens. The former P&C on the site would be demolished and four new buildings constructed. One would house Walgreens, another a bank, a third a sit-down restaurant and the fourth, possibly the Starbucks.
According to the site plan, the Walgreens store in Auburn would be 14,730 square feet. The store would sit at the front of the plaza, directly across the street from a recently-opened Eckerd Drugs. Plans are for Walgreens to open early in 2006.
Staff writer Louise Hoffman Broach can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or louise.hoffman@lee.net
The Citizens' Say
There are No comments posted.