AUBURN - A second Quiznos location will get toasting this weekend on Grant Avenue, a corridor that's been heating up again with commercial development.

Co-owner Brett Davenport hopes to lure the lunch crowd from the many neighboring businesses with the sandwich chain's signature toasted subs. He and his wife, Joanne, opened their first store at Fingerlakes Crossing off Routes 5 & 20 in Aurelius in March.

“It's really serving two separate markets,” city resident Davenport said Thursday. “Although the stores are only four miles apart, at lunch time that's too far to travel for a lot of people.”

The Quiznos in Hunter Brook Plaza will open at 11 a.m. Saturday. A strong start at the Fingerlakes Crossing location has Davenport looking forward to similar success on Grant Avenue, he said.

Davenport Management employs nearly 30 people between the two stores. Quiznos will have up to three neighbors at the recently completed Hunter Brook Plaza, 171 Grant Ave.

Sprint opened a store for cell phone sales and billing services at the plaza in June. Manager Pat Burns said Sprint moved from the Fingerlakes Mall to target more foot and auto traffic.

“This is going to be a better business location,” he said. “We do better in a building than a kiosk.”

Another franchise, Make & Take Gourmet, is expected to open this fall. Like the Davenports, city native Patrick Hogan will be going into business for the first time with his wife, Megan, with Make & Take. The store will provide the ingredients for meals that customers make on the premises and bring home.

“The concept is a great idea, especially for working parents,” Hogan said.

The prices for the 6- or 12-meal packages will be comparable to buying the ingredients for that many meals at the grocery store.

“I was interested in the spot because this is a destination business and Grant Ave. is a great spot with a lot of traffic,” Hogan said. “It almost seems like a re-boom for business there.”

The first development explosion came with a slew of big box retailers in the late 1990s. More recently, Walgreens developer HDL Property Group has planned for more than 17,000 square feet of commercial development to accompany the drugstore across the street from Hunter Brook. Auburn Plaza is also renovating for the addition of tenants this fall.

The family franchises are good fits for Hunter Brook Plaza, the inaugural project of father-and-son development firm MGA Enterprises.

Mark Murphy started MGA with his father, Fred, a partner in and founder of Murphy Brothers Contracting in the city. After working with his father most of his life, Mark wanted to diversify the family business.

“I just wanted to do something where you build from the ground up and actually make some deals,” Murphy said. “I wanted to take it to the next step.”

To further the family connection, MGA is named after his children, Michael, Grace and Andrew. Murphy bought the property last fall, tore down the former Superior Countertop and Home Center, and built the 7,000-square-foot plaza this spring.

MGA is negotiating with potential tenants to take up the remaining 1,800 square feet of space, Murphy said. Hogan hopes to open Make & Take by mid-September.

Staff reporter Shane Liebler can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or shane.liebler@lee.net

Hunter Brook Plaza profile

Address: 171 Grant. Ave., Auburn

Specs: 7,000 square feet new construction, four spaces

Tenants, hours:

€ Quiznos, Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sundays 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

€ Sprint, Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sundays noon to 5 p.m.

€ Make & Take Gourmet, opening this fall