PLATTSBURGH — Plans are under development to put a Five Guys Burgers and Fries restaurant in the former Mangia building.
Five Guys spokewoman Molly Catalano said Wednesday that there is not yet an agreement to buy or lease the property, but, “if all goes well, they hope to open in March 2013.”
The applicant is Hada Plattsburgh LLC. That company is headed by T.J. Hada, whose company owns eight 5 Guys franchises in the Capital District and to the north.
YOGURT SHOP, TOO
Bill Rabbit, director of operations for the group, said they hope to also open a TCBY soft-serve and hand-scooped frozen-yogurt franchise on the property, as well. They presently have four of those franchises in their portfolio.
“We’ve been looking to come up there for a couple years now. We’re in the process now of coming up there,” he said. “All good things take time.”
Mangia closed at the end of June. David White, president of Albany-based White Management, said at the time that he was working to bring a different concept to the property.
APPROVALS NEEDED
Hada Plattsburgh had approval from the City of Plattsburgh Planning Board in 2010 to put a Five Guys franchise in the former Carsana’s location near the intersection of Broad and Cornelia streets. Rabbit said they decided against that due to concerns about in-ground contamination from a service station that used to be on that property.
The sketch plan for the 1,200-square-foot addition to the Mangia building received approval from the Town of Plattsburgh Planning Board Tuesday night. Approval is yet to come for a detailed preliminary plan.
And the plan will need an open-space variance from the Town Zoning Board of Appeals for a deficiency of 7 percent, although that will not change from the present layout.
Karl Weiss of Robert M. Sutherland said the two restaurants would have about 89 seats and 46 parking spaces.
Information was not available Wednesday in the number of jobs expected, but when the restaurant was proposed for the Carsana’s site, the estimate was 30 to 35 jobs.
NAME BRANDS
Five Guys was founded in Arlington, Va., in 1986 and started to offer franchise rights in 2003. According to the company website, there are now more than 1,000 North American locations.
The restaurant offers burgers, hot dogs, grilled cheese and fries. It uses only fresh ground beef; the meat is never frozen, the company said, as there are no freezers, just coolers. The fries are cooked in pure peanut oil.
Diners can add any of 15 toppings and condiments at no extra charge. The chain says that results in more than 250,000 combinations.
TCBY started in Arkansas in 1981 and has grown to 450 stores nationwide.
Plattsburgh Town Supervisor Bernie Bassett said he’s excited to see more new businesses coming to the town. It helps when they have name brands that have national recognition, he said.
“These are names that travelers will identify with. I’m confident thay will have a strong and faithful following,” Bassett said.
For more information, visit fiveguys.com or tcby.com.
Email Dan Heath: dheath@pressrepublican.com
