Sonic Rolls Into MetroWest
PHOTO/COURTESY
Sonic, the Oklahoma City-based drive-in restaurant chain, is expected to open a restaurant in Marlborough.
Residents across the region have probably seen commercials on television for Sonic, a chain of drive-in restaurants that come complete with wait staff on roller skates. Soon, there may actually be one in the area to visit.
The Marlborough City Council this week approved a preliminary proposal for the national chain to open its third Massachusetts store in the state and its first in MetroWest.
And Marlborough officials are hoping that developing the area on Route 20 where the restaurant has been proposed will accelerate plans for a larger, mixed-use commercial and residential project near the site in the coming years.
"We've been talking about this area for a while and there have been ideas and then they get changed," said Marlborough Mayor Nancy Stevens. "To see plans progressing is nice because we really see this as a great opportunity area for the city."
Serving Up Expansion
Sonic has more than 3,500 locations around the country and they've been gradually expanding across the Northeast in the past few years, said Drew Ritger, senior vice president of business planning and purchasing for the Oklahoma City-based chain.
In the last 18 months new openings for the company slowed, due to a number of factors, including inclement weather, which limited new building opportunities, and the overall economic slowdown. The company reported a 33 percent drop in its most recent quarterly revenues.
But with summer around the corner and the economy "easing," Ritger said, new store openings are picking up.
"The brand has already been very well received in Massachusetts and the Northeast," Ritger said. "You'll see us continue to grow at a moderate pace across the region."
There are plans for another new store in Wilmington and the company already has a Sonic in Peabody.
"We're thrilled to see them," said Marlborough City Councilor Steven Levy, who chairs the urban affairs committee, which directly considered the issue. "Investments like these bring jobs and spur development right in the areas of the city we want to see it."
The parcel Sonic has proposed to build on is near the Marlborough Technology Park and is part of about 70 acres of land owned by Burlington-based Gutierrez Co., a real estate development company.
Scott Weiss, a managing director for the Gutierrez, said the long-term plan for the property is to build a mixed-use office park and luxury apartment complex near where the Sonic has been proposed.
Zoning changes for the area are being applied for and there is no specific timeframe for construction yet, he said. Gutierrez also owns a development further East on Route 20 which includes a 99 Restaurant.
Stevens, Marlborough's mayor, said the choice of Sonic to locate in Marlborough along with the long-term plans for the area point to the importance of the Route 20 stretch for future growth. She said the area will be even further aided by plans to allow for additional sewage capacity through the city's wastewater treatment system. The upgrades are expected to be complete by 2012.
As for Sonic's development in Marlborough, the project received preliminary approval from the city council this week with some conditions. For example, councilors asked for Sonic officials to hold a job fair in town to encourage the company to hire local workers.
Sonic's plan will now be more thoroughly reviewed by a site plan review committee, which includes representatives from various departments in the city before construction is allowed. Officials hope the Sonic will open in the fall.
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