Following the news of Sonic in Latham, Dairy Queen Grill and Chill wants to make its mark in the Capital District. But first, the landowners must get the site plan approved by the planning commission.
Paul and Joe Clark, the landowners of 1650 through 1652 Central Ave. and 1 Jupiter Lane, presented the Village of Colonie Planning Commission with a second site plan for a potential Dairy Queen location on Tuesday, Jan. 20. The planning commission members still had concerns about traffic, and any suggestions were pushed until the commission heard from the Department of Transportation.
Vanguard-Fine real estate agent Steve Lerner, who is representing Dairy Queen, said that the restaurant chain has been looking at the Central Avenue. property for nearly a year.
“They’re looking throughout the whole Capital Region,” Lerner said. “The idea was to get the first one under their belt, and then continue the search. And they’ve done a lot of study on this location. They’ve spent hours of the day looking at traffic…. They know what they need, they know what they want, they know what they can do.”
If the planning commission approves the plan, it will be a 20-year contract with the Clarks. This will be the first regional location. Similarly, Sonic Drive-In has already made steps to put in a restaurant at 701 Troy Schenectady Road in Latham.
However, the planning commission had its doubts.
“I don’t have a problem with the Dairy Queen,” said member Kenny Hart. “I think a Dairy Queen would be great for the village. It’s a prime spot. But I think it’s 10 pounds of sand in a five pound bag.”
Dairy Queen requires 48 spots for cars at the minimum, meaning the restaurant would tear down the building at 1 Jupiter Lane, which lies behind the former electronics shop.
Ultimately, the commission decided that the DOT would need to give feedback on the plan before moving forward.
But Lerner was confident the property would work with what Dairy Queen has in mind after all the time it has taken to study the traffic patterns and potential traffic once the site is built. “They’re very, very big on safety,” he said. “The customers are a lot of moms, families with kids, so their big concern is safety.”
