Grocery in Amos Building

Grocery store to set up shop downtown

Details about new market on Clinton Square in Syracuse slated to be released today.

Friday, September 30, 2005

By Pam Greene, Staff writer

Downtown Syracuse will be getting a new grocery store in Clinton Square.

Queri Development Co. will announce plans for a 3,000-square-foot store at 11 a.m. today at 214 W. Water St.

The store, developed under the limited liability corporation Syracuse Soma Market, will be the only full-service grocery store in downtown Syracuse, according the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce.

The company said it would not release the name of the grocery store until the news conference.

The store will cater to the surge of housing development in downtown Syracuse.

Mayor Matt Driscoll said nearly 1,200 people reside downtown and there are ongoing plans and proposals to build more housing throughout downtown.

Recent developments include a proposed apartment building at South Clinton and Jefferson streets and a proposal to renovate a vacant warehouse at 215 W. Fayette St. into 11 apartments. There's also a plan to convert a four-story warehouse at 230 Willow St. into a 49- unit apartment building.

Construction on the store hasn't started yet. Plans posted on the window show that parking will be available on the Franklin Street side of the building and a courtyard will be on the Clinton Square side of the building.

The company will release specific plans and designs for the grocery store at the news conference, an official with the development company said.

There have been many convenience stores and small grocery stores downtown, but very few full-service markets, said Connie Maute, director of research for the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce. Full-service markets include all of the grocery options of a food store as well as a bakery and a deli.

"I think it's definitely positive," she said. "There really isn't a grocery store downtown. Downtown is growing quickly and it's definitely a step in the right direction."

Plans for the grocery store have been ongoing since last year. In January, the company told the city's economic development director that the plans for the Amos Building include 21 luxury apartments and 5,700 square feet of retail space that would include a grocery store.

Queri Development is a company formed by Dan Queri, a former Destiny USA executive. Queri has been working on the project with Scott Congel, son of Destiny USA developer Robert Congel.

At the southwest corner of Clinton Street and Erie Boulevard West, the Amos Building has sat vacant for several years, and city officials have been eager to see something done with it. The city has agreed to give the developer a full exemption on property taxes on improvements to the site for seven years.

Clinton Square grocery to target well-off

Owner says construction should take about two months after city approval.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

By John O'Brien, Staff writer

When the only full-service grocery store in downtown Syracuse opens in the next few months, it will target an upscale clientele.

The 3,000-square-foot store will be called C.L. Evers & Co. and will be built on Clinton Square, said William Burns, owner and operator of the store.

"Our quality of product will be as superior as it can be," Burns said.

Because the groceries will be "the best of the best," the prices will often be a little more expensive, he said. "But we'll certainly not be out of line with other grocery stores," Burns said.

Construction will begin as soon as the city approves the plans that Queri Development Co. has submitted. That will likely take about a month, according to David Michel, the city's director of economic development.

Construction will take two months, Burns said.

Downtown Syracuse is home to about 2,700 people, and about 30,000 people work there, according to Merike Treier, of the Downtown Committee.

The hope for the store is that people living downtown will do their shopping there and that workers will stop for groceries after they leave the office, Treier said.

"It's great to see this kind of development," she said. "Especially because it's a grocer. It's been a long-term downtown wish."

The store will employ 11 people. It will offer fresh produce, fresh meat, fresh fish, a deli, hot prepared foods, cold prepared foods, a cooking station and health and beauty items, Burns said.

"What we're talking about is a full urban-oriented grocery where you can get all those things," he said.

Queri Development Co. announced plans for the store Friday under the limited liability corporation Syracuse Soma Market.

Dan Queri, a former member of the Destiny USA development team, and Mark Congel, son of Destiny USA developer Robert Congel, are the two principals of Queri Development.