Development in and Around Syracuse Discussion

[OttoMets]

Right down on the same side of Erie Blvd and only about a block or 2 west of the Shoppingtown property there is a relatively new huge strip mall that is bursting at the seams that is a parking lot and traffic nightmare. Makes me wonder what the lease $ were at Shoppingtown that made this gigantic squished in strip mall choose that location.

a) Huge tenant improvement allowances. These stores want to be physically reinvented increasingly frequently, so if a new landlord (Benderson again, in that case) is willing to throw in six figures of TIs, the tenant will gladly jump at the end of the lease. (And in our current disruption, we're seeing an unprecedented tenants' market; landlords are routinely having to shell out enormous TI allowances. In an extreme example, the new Hudson Yards in New York lured Neiman Marcus by (1) building the store out for them, and (2) fully waiving the first five years of rent in favor of a small percentage of sales.)

b) To continue with the Hudson Yards example, the developer then used Neiman Marcus's presence to lease the other retail spaces. Same deal with Benderson on the boulevard, in a sense: once Shoppingtown went into a death spiral and Benderson's plaza started to fill up, other retailers wanted to jump to where the action is. They're always looking for a kind of synergy with other tenants (even when to me it seems that that plaza is overbuilt and not very shopper-friendly).

 

[OttoMets]

In our climate, the return of strip malls is confusing to me. It’s a return to the ’50’s again when strip malls or downtown were the only options. Why would someone prefer to drive to separate shops or walk outside to multiple stores in a strip mall? I can understand maybe in other climate areas but in the northeast?

Same, in the Snowbelt this plaza fad just doesn't make sense.

 

[Cheriehoop]

Kmart couldn't make it anywhere.

Hedge fund owner Eddie Lampert including Trump’s buddy Steven Mnuchin sucked the organization dry after combining Sears and KMart. They put no money into their aging stores - the one near me when I lived in Liverpool, even had buckets to catch rain water. The once thriving KMart store was disorganized, old and looked like an old Dollar store. My older kids who used to beg me to go to KMart so they could get a teenage mutant ninja turtle toy etc hated going there by the time they were 12 and KMart became an adjective in their age group for ‘cheap’. It was sad because KMart personally was there for us as a young fiscally challenged couple with young kids.

 

[KellySyracuse]

speaking of Kmart, I have a funny and kind of terrible story involving Kmart from when I was 5 years old. The parents loaded up all the kids in the family station wagon - me, my sister and four of my brothers one of whom was only a few months old.

My mother let me hang out near the toy section while she did some shopping back at a time before Adam was kidnapped and killed in Florida. She finished up her shopping, gathered up all the kids to head back to the car for the big night out at Carroll's for 10 cent burgers except she forgot about me. No one said anything until they got to Carroll's and realized they had left me at Kmart!

The store had closed and I was sitting on the customer service desk with worried employees not knowing what to do with me when my Mom finally came back to pick me up.

I never really shopped much at that Kmart, it was the one in Mattydale that was one of the last ones to close in the area. It was a bit traumatizing

 

[Cheriehoop]

speaking of Kmart, I have a funny and kind of terrible story involving Kmart from when I was 5 years old. The parents loaded up all the kids in the family station wagon - me, my sister and four of my brothers one of whom was only a few months old.

My mother let me hang out near the toy section while she did some shopping back at a time before Adam was kidnapped and killed in Florida. She finished up her shopping, gathered up all the kids to head back to the car for the big night out at Carroll's for 10 cent burgers except she forgot about me. No one said anything until they got to Carroll's and realized they had left me at Kmart!

The store had closed and I was sitting on the customer service desk with worried employees not knowing what to do with me when my Mom finally came back to pick me up.

I never really shopped much at that Kmart, it was the one in Mattydale that was one of the last ones to close in the area. It was a bit traumatizing

Your own version of Home Alone but KMart Alone.

 

[shandeezy7]

This is a shame, and I imagine it has more to do with the landlord and his (terrible) plans for the property than what kind of business they were doing. In fact, the entire article talks about how great the restaurant is doing and how popular it is with university students and local workers, but we're just going to pack up and leave our loyal customer base for Baldwinsville, where none of those groups will travel to? Odd.

Popular downtown Syracuse Mexican restaurant moves to the suburbs

San Miguel Mexican Bar & Grill closed in Syracuse on Saturday and reopens today in Baldwinsville

www.syracuse.com

 

[Cusefan0307]

This is a shame, and I imagine it has more to do with the landlord and his (terrible) plans for the property than what kind of business they were doing. In fact, the entire article talks about how great the restaurant is doing and how popular it is with university students and local workers, but we're just going to pack up and leave our loyal customer base for Baldwinsville, where none of those groups will travel to? Odd.

Popular downtown Syracuse Mexican restaurant moves to the suburbs

San Miguel Mexican Bar & Grill closed in Syracuse on Saturday and reopens today in Baldwinsville

www.syracuse.com

I will still go no matter where it is. That building they currently are in is a dump. The location in Bville should be a really great location for them. It is right on the water and WT Brews is right nearby. Angry Garlic has done really well since opening just a block away.

 

[shandeezy7]

I will still go no matter where it is. That building they currently are in is a dump. The location in Bville should be a really great location for them. It is right on the water and WT Brews is right nearby. Angry Garlic has done really well since opening just a block away.

You might go, but I'd be willing to bet that SU students won't go all that way, and obviously they won't pull in the lunchtime/happy hour business from St. Joe's and other nearby offices. It's a beautiful building but it's clear that the landlord doesn't care about it and in fact, wants to tear it down. I get leaving the building but I'm surprised they wouldn't want to stay close by.

 

[Cowtown]

Hedge fund owner Eddie Lampert including Trump’s buddy Steven Mnuchin sucked the organization dry after combining Sears and KMart. They put no money into their aging stores - the one near me when I lived in Liverpool, even had buckets to catch rain water. The once thriving KMart store was disorganized, old and looked like an old Dollar store. My older kids who used to beg me to go to KMart so they could get a teenage mutant ninja turtle toy etc hated going there by the time they were 12 and KMart became an adjective in their age group for ‘cheap’. It was sad because KMart personally was there for us as a young fiscally challenged couple with young kids.

 

[Cusefan0307]

You might go, but I'd be willing to bet that SU students won't go all that way, and obviously they won't pull in the lunchtime/happy hour business from St. Joe's and other nearby offices. It's a beautiful building but it's clear that the landlord doesn't care about it and in fact, wants to tear it down. I get leaving the building but I'm surprised they wouldn't want to stay close by.

I can't say for certain, but maybe rent is high in other locations downtown, companies are looking to have employees WFH more often post virus, and Baldwinsville/Lysander is the fastest growing area in Onondaga County.

 

[shandeezy7]

I can't say for certain, but maybe rent is high in other locations downtown, companies are looking to have employees WFH more often post virus, and Baldwinsville/Lysander is the fastest growing area in Onondaga County.

All I'm saying is that the entire article reads like "we love our customers and we do amazing business - even in the middle of the pandemic - but we are going to go about as far away from our loyal customer base as we can because reasons." It's odd, and I can't imagine rent for a waterfront restaurant can be much cheaper than something downtown adjacent.

 

[TexanMark]

Hopefully they will find another downtown/SU location. I bet there will be several good opportunities after Covid-19 fallout

 

[bballbeadle]

This is a shame, and I imagine it has more to do with the landlord and his (terrible) plans for the property than what kind of business they were doing. In fact, the entire article talks about how great the restaurant is doing and how popular it is with university students and local workers, but we're just going to pack up and leave our loyal customer base for Baldwinsville, where none of those groups will travel to? Odd.

Popular downtown Syracuse Mexican restaurant moves to the suburbs

San Miguel Mexican Bar & Grill closed in Syracuse on Saturday and reopens today in Baldwinsville

www.syracuse.com

WHAT?????
That is a friggin disaster for me and my husband! Why why why why??

 

[OttoMets]

I will still go no matter where it is. That building they currently are in is a dump. The location in Bville should be a really great location for them. It is right on the water and WT Brews is right nearby. Angry Garlic has done really well since opening just a block away.

The landlord's no good, but I like the building they're in. I give them 18 months in the new spot; that place is pretty but it's a restaurant killer.

 

[KellySyracuse]

The landlord's no good, but I like the building they're in. I give them 18 months in the new spot; that place is pretty but it's a restaurant killer.

Isn't the landlord named Vinnie? I'm trying to recall his name, back in the day when I used to program POS systems I installed them when he opened his own restaurant there. He had just gotten out of prison, had to be around 2003. Shoot, I can't remember the name of the place either...Ilario's? No, that's not it. Anyone else remember?

 

[shandeezy7]

Isn't the landlord named Vinnie? I'm trying to recall his name, back in the day when I used to program POS systems I installed them when he opened his own restaurant there. He had just gotten out of prison, had to be around 2003. Shoot, I can't remember the name of the place either...Ilario's? No, that's not it. Anyone else remember?

Speaking of POS, sounds like an apt description of him, based on what I've heard.

 

[shandeezy7]

WHAT?????
That is a friggin disaster for me and my husband! Why why why why??

I've been a couple of times and thought it was the best Mexican restaurant in Syracuse. Obviously, living in Buffalo, I'm not a core customer of theirs, but I know that when I am in town, there's very little chance I will be venturing out to Baldwinsville for dinner. I've heard great things about Angry Garlic and have been meaning to try it for a while, but going out to Bville from the east side is such a chore that I still have yet to go.

 

[OttoMets]

Isn't the landlord named Vinnie? I'm trying to recall his name, back in the day when I used to program POS systems I installed them when he opened his own restaurant there. He had just gotten out of prison, had to be around 2003. Shoot, I can't remember the name of the place either...Ilario's? No, that's not it. Anyone else remember?

Tino. You've got all the other details right. I believe he was in prison for some kind of arson/insurance fraud scheme.

Surprisingly, Ilario's was awesome.

 

[OttoMets]

I've been a couple of times and thought it was the best Mexican restaurant in Syracuse. Obviously, living in Buffalo, I'm not a core customer of theirs, but I know that when I am in town, there's very little chance I will be venturing out to Baldwinsville for dinner. I've heard great things about Angry Garlic and have been meaning to try it for a while, but going out to Bville from the east side is such a chore that I still have yet to go.

Yeah, San Miguel was my favorite in the area (but unfortunately not such a favorite that I've been there in the last three or four years). I'm not going to Baldwinsville to eat there, and if I do find myself out that way, I'm definitely trying Angry Garlic instead. Or maybe that take-out fish place that used to be so good.

 

[bevosu]

A clue...Syracuse New Times story..


1904-era building stands in the way of proposed North Side redevelopment

By David Haas

Posted on March 27, 2019

History Test: 1904-era building stands in the way of proposed North Side redevelopment

Out with the old and in with the new. This phrase often suggests that for one to move forward, they must forget the past. This mentality can sometimes cause societies to be at odds when progress and planning meet historic preservation.

Currently on the city’s North Side, longtime Syracuse developer Tino Marcoccia is working to do away with the old to construct the new. His proposal: demolish 425 N. State St., home of San Miguel Mexican Restaurant, and build a multi-story complex that features room for office space, retail, a restaurant and apartments.

Marcoccia has owned the building since 2003, and states he has put nearly $250,000 into the property over the last 16 years. With the property in working condition and home to a functioning restaurant, many community residents were surprised when news came that Marcoccia had announced his intent to demolish the structure.

 

[KellySyracuse]

Tino. You've got all the other details right. I believe he was in prison for some kind of arson/insurance fraud scheme.

Surprisingly, Ilario's was awesome.

Tino, that's it! God bless you OM, it was driving me crazy. He sat at the bar all day and drank and I remember the server that controlled the point of sale stations was in the attic which didn't have much heat. Froze my ass up there.

While I'm on the subject anyone remember the bar/nightclub/bowling alley in Camillus on Hinsdale Rd.? The guy that opened it was a former SU lacrosse player. I believe his wife had just had twins when he and his partners bought the place and refurbished it. Not in business anymore, not sure what happened there. He was a nice guy, had some great wings.

Edit: Vinnie's was the name of the restaurant there before Tino bought the building. I was off on my year though, I probably installed that system around 2005 or so. Thank goodness I got out of that job in 2006. Pinning hopes on the restaurant business for a livelihood is a dicey prospect.

 

[bevosu]

Tino, that's it! God bless you OM, it was driving me crazy. He sat at the bar all day and drank and I remember the server that controlled the point of sale stations was in the attic which didn't have much heat. Froze my ass up there.

While I'm on the subject anyone remember the bar/nightclub/bowling alley in Camillus on Hinsdale Rd.? The guy that opened it was a former SU lacrosse player. I believe his wife had just had twins when he and his partners bought the place and refurbished it. Not in business anymore, not sure what happened there. He was a nice guy, had some great wings.

Edit: Vinnie's was the name of the restaurant there before Tino bought the building. I was off on my year though, I probably installed that system around 2005 or so. Thank goodness I got out of that job in 2006. Pinning hopes on the restaurant business for a livelihood is a dicey prospect.

Hinsdale Rd? You sure it wasn't Newport Rd?

 

[Cusester]

McNamara's

 

[bevosu]

McNamara's

I'm guessing that's the spot she meant.

 

[KellySyracuse]

McNamara's

I'm guessing that's the spot she meant.

yep, that was the place on Newport Rd. Thanks fellas