ALBANY – Coming soon to a New York State Thruway rest stop near you: Chick-fil-A, Popeyes, Shake Shack, and more.
Applegreen, the Irish convenience store chain that is taking on the lease for the Thruway’s 27 rest stops, will begin the first phase of a $ 300 million renovation project later this month, which will eventually rebuild 23 of the travel spaces and the rest four are to be extensively renovated.
When the travel spots reopen, they will welcome an entirely new group of tenants to replace the restaurants that have existed for years or even decades.
Among the restaurants and shops the Thruway Authority says will occupy the new rest stops:
- Chick-fil-A
- Popeyes
- Shake shack
- Dunkin ‘
- Panda Express
- Burger King
- Starbucks
- panera bread
- Apple green
However, it is not yet known exactly which restaurants will be located at which travel destinations. And certainly not all brands will be in every seat.
Jennifer Givner, a spokeswoman for the Thruway Authority, said the locations of the restaurants are yet to be determined.
The location of certain restaurants remains unclear
The restaurant list first appeared on a series of posters posted in the current motorway service stations that are currently open.
The list is sure to pique the interest of weary Thruway travelers who have lived for years on McDonald’s, Burger King, and Roy Rogers outlets that have settled among the past tenants of the service space, including McDonald’s, HMS Host, and Delaware North belonged to.
But it could also spark criticism from LGBTQ lawyers who have long protested Chick-fil-A over his donation history to anti-LGBTQ organizations.
In 2019, plans to allow a chick-fil-A at Buffalo Niagara International Airport were abandoned amid outcry from supporters and elected officials.
10 motorway service stations will be temporarily closed this month
Applegreen is to start work on the first phase of renovation for the new travel areas from this month, when 10 rest stops are to be closed due to demolition and construction.
Rest stops scheduled to close this month include: Indian Castle, Junius Ponds, Chittenango, Ardsley, Iroquois, Clarence, Plattekill, Clifton Springs, New Baltimore, and Pembroke.
Six more – Seneca, Oneida, Pattersonville, Sloatsburg, Scottsville and Ulster – will be open for “interim operations” until late 2022 or early 2023, according to the Thruway Authority.
The first spots to reopen are Indian Castle, Junius Ponds, and Chittenango, all of which are slated to open in March 2022. The remaining places in the first phase will be opened in various locations from July 2022 to November 2023.
The construction is designed in such a way that no two consecutive rest stops are closed at the same time. A second construction phase for the remaining facilities is scheduled to begin in January 2023.
Under its agreement with the Thruway Authority, Empire State will spend approximately $ 300 million to renovate and rebuild the service spaces, plus at least $ 51 million to Thruway Partners – a consortium of investors now acquired by Applegreen Rent and $ 103 million for improvements under a three-decade contract.
In return, Applegreen will operate the restaurants, shops, and facilities in the plazas through 2053.
That is likely to generate a significant profit: the company will be allowed to keep the remnants of the sales that the rest stops produce each year after giving 0.84% of its revenue to the Autobahn Authority for rent.
When the renovation project was announced last year, Empire State Thruway Partners expected gross sales of approximately $ 10 billion over the course of the contract.
More:New York’s Thruway seats will soon be undergoing a major renovation. See what they’ll look like.
More:Blind salespeople argue over the New York Thruway over plans for overhauled rest stops
Jon Campbell is the Editor of the New York State Team for the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @JonCampbellGAN.
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