Could Starbucks push out a longtime fast food restaurant in Fresno? Here’s what’s happening
Starbucks has filed several permit applications with the city of Fresno to open a new location on Palm Avenue, just south of Bullard Avenue.
Just one problem.
There’s already a business on the site that doesn’t want to leave: Foster’s Freeze.
The fast food restaurant with a drive-thru selling burgers and soft serve has been there since at least 1976, said Don Beiderwell, one of the franchisees who owns this Foster’s Freeze and several others in town (including the one on Blackstone Avenue that recently closed).
The restaurant’s lease expired several months ago and it’s been operating on a month-to-month lease.
Beiderwell said Foster’s wants to stay.
Foster’s Freeze
“It’s been a consistently good or decent location for us,” he said. “It’s not great numbers, (but) it’s been a good run, so I would like to see it continue.”
Moving it to a new spot is unlikely to happen, he said.
“There’s not a lot of buildings with a drive-thru that would be suitable,” he said.
Starbucks did not respond to requests for comment from The Bee.
The landlord who owns the property declined to comment, saying he signed a confidentiality agreement and was prohibited from speaking on the subject.
It’s not unusual for companies to seek permits while another renter is still occupying the spot, said Mike J. Riso, a Los Angeles-based strategic real estate adviser with Real Estate Bees network.
“It’s pretty common,” he said. “It’s really more the norm.”
Before committing to a five- or 10-year lease, a company will want to see if it can get the approvals it needs to open, he said. (Alternatively, companies also sometimes sign leases with language allowing them to back out of if they don’t get those approvals.)
If they can’t get the proper approvals, it allows the landlord to keep a paying tenant in the space and not end up with an empty building if something falls through.
“The landlord is in business to get as much rent as they can for the property,” Riso noted. “It does make sense from the landlord’s perspective … that they would want to keep the money coming in, until the new lease has been secured.”
Starbucks plans
According to City of Fresno databases, a conditional-use permit application was filed in August, followed by more plans in late February, to convert the existing quick-service restaurant to a Starbucks.
It would majorly remodel the building, including “full interior and exterior modifications,” and parking lot and drive-thru improvements. Other plans call for improving or replacing the landscaping, trash enclosure and replacing asphalt, light poles and repainting stripes in the parking lot
The project application was accepted for processing March 1, confirmed a city representative.
What happens next?
The city will review the project for compliance with development code and various agencies such as public works will weigh in. A notice to surrounding property owners “may then be sent” informing them of the intent to move the project forward, according to the city.
The project will not go before the planning commission unless it is appealed.
In the meantime, the Foster’s franchisee says he’s in limbo, waiting to see what happens.
“If the numbers line up for the landlord and the Starbucks, I suspect that’s the way it’s going to go,” Beiderwell said. “I’m afraid that we’re the tail being wagged and we have limited power.”
This story was originally published March 14, 2023 at 10:01 AM.
