By Christine Graf<\/p>\n
Russ Faden, a real estate developer and franchisee who operates 33 Subway restaurants, has acquired property at 1471 Route 9 in Queensbury where he will build another store in the franchise.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He purchased the two-acre property from Frank Parillo and Saratoga Prime Property for $575,000.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As part of his plans to redevelop the property, Faden will tear down an existing 3,500-square-foot building, replacing it one that measures approximately 8,500 square feet. The building will be home to a new a Subway restaurant and Faden plans to lease the remaining retail space. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He said he will also build 24 self-storage units in the rear of the property. The estimated cost for the project is $2.5 million.<\/p>\n At one time, Faden leased space in the building he plans to demolish.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe had a Subway there for about seven years, and it hasn\u2019t been open for about a year to 18 months. It always did pretty well, but it was just an outdated building,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that with a new building, with better design and better parking, that it has the potential to be a great plaza. It\u2019s going to be a whole tear down and redevelopment. We\u2019re essentially going to push the building back a bit and have parking in the front and parking in the rear. It\u2019s a deep lot, and the storage units will be in the very back where there\u2019s not a lot of visibility.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/strong>For Faden, a former Saratoga Springs police officer turned entrepreneur, this will be his first self-storage facility. He cites the area\u2019s growing demand for storage space as the reason for his decision to enter that market.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI know it\u2019s a good business to get into. Everybody needs storage units, and I think it will be good for that area because there are a lot of businesses that probably could benefit from it.\u201d<\/p>\n Demolition is expected to begin in 30 to 60 days, and Faden hopes to have the project completed by next summer. Several prospective tenants have already expressed interest in leasing retail space in the building, which is located across from the Log Jam Outlet Centers.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>\u201cThere\u2019s so much traffic up there\u2014especially in the summer\u2014but all year long,\u201d said Faden. \u201cI think it\u2019s a great, growing area.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to developing real estate, Faden is in the process of updating his Subway restaurants with the \u201cFresh Forward\u201d design. The new design is part of Subway\u2019s franchise development strategy, one that will require all franchise owners to update their restaurants.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Faden has already converted about half of his Subway locations and said that he expects to have the rest completed by the end of next year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a good size investment to do it, but in every store that we\u2019ve done it, it has turned out well. Some have done better than others, but overall, it\u2019s a clean look and it helps with the overall perception of Subway. It\u2019s a big move, but it\u2019s much needed in a lot of restaurants,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Overall, sales have increased. Expenses have also risen, and hiring remains particularly challenging.<\/p>\n \u201cBy far the biggest challenge is finding help and keeping good help,\u201d he said. \u201cJust when you think things are getting better, you have a setback. We will hire 10 people, half will show up, and we will end up keeping one or two.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Christine Graf Russ Faden, a real estate developer and franchisee who operates 33 Subway restaurants, has acquired property at 1471 Route 9 in Queensbury where he will build another store in the franchise.\u00a0 He purchased the two-acre property from Frank Parillo and Saratoga Prime Property for $575,000.\u00a0 As part of his plans to redevelop […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n