Sonic Backs Out Of Marlborough Deal
FILE PHOTO
National fast-food chain Sonic had plans to open up shop in Marlborough. But negotiations with the town fell apart.
A few months ago, plans for a Sonic restaurant to be constructed in Marlborough seemed like a done deal, according to city officials. The national drive-in food chain had plans to open three stores in Massachusetts, including one in MetroWest by early 2011.
But the opening in Marlborough never happened.
Some Marlborough officials are frustrated and have been left scratching their heads.
"We were very disappointed," said Stephen Reid, building commissioner for the town. "We did a lot of work, jumped through a lot of hoops, made a lot of concessions - and then they backed out at the last minute."
Devil In The Details
The Marlborough City Council gave Sonic officials approval in the spring to construct the company's first Central Massachusetts location. That vote was mainly about the merits of having the restaurant in the city, which the council unanimously approved.
The next approval Sonic officials needed was a more detailed administrative site plan review conducted by various department heads, including the city engineer and public safety officials. This process involved submitting engineering and construction plans to ensure that traffic patterns, utility connections and safety measures are all satisfactory, according to Reid.
But when Sonic officials did their homework and realized that the site work would cost upwards of $400,000, they became hesitant about going through with construction.
In an effort to keep the deal alive, Reid said city engineers worked with the restaurant chain's local representative and came up with site plans that Reid called a compromise.
For example, some of the requirements regarding the height of the curbs, sidewalk installation and other utility work were all amended. Reid estimates that the updated plans could have saved the company about half of the original cost of the site work. And because they had been developed jointly between the company's representatives and city officials, Reid was confident it was a win-win.
A few weeks later, a local contractor contacted the city asking when the construction work would be put out to bid by the company. At that time, around late September, Reid e-mailed the Sonic representative and learned that the company was backing out of the deal. Reid hasn't heard from the chain since.
Reid said he was surprised to learn that Sonic officials were unprepared for the cost of the site work needed. He admits there are some challenges to building on the property, such as the steep grade in the land and the need for utility infrastructure, but the Sonic officials kept moving forward with their plans.
"Anyone in construction would realize that if they take a good look at the property," he said. "It was kind of obvious."
Adding to the frustration is the potential for future development that the restaurant could have spurred, Reid said.
The site is directly across the street from a strip mall that houses a Hannaford Supermarket and some other fast-food restaurants, such as Panera Bread. It's within blocks of Interstate 495 and two of the city's major hotels, the Embassy Suites Hotel and Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel & Trade Center.
The only structure on the dozens of acres of undeveloped land is a small Bank of America branch. The Sonic, according to Reid and other officials in the city, was expected to be the first in what they hoped would be a domino effect of other developments in the area.
A spokesperson for the company said only that Sonic "decided to reevaluate its development in Massachusetts," but would not elaborate further. The company's other two Bay State locations in Peabody and Wilmington have opened as announced last year.
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