Developer sues Starbucks

10/17/2008

No Morning Joe: Developer sues Starbucks

By: Glenn Griffith , Community News

	The empty building on 5 Northside Drive which Abele Builders state they built for Starbucks, sits vacant. (GLENN GRIFFTH/Community News)

HALFMOOON - A Halfmoon developer has sued an internationally known coffee house business for not following through on a contract to open a second store in Clifton Park.

Abele Builders filed the lawsuit against the Seattle-based Starbucks in Saratoga County State Supreme Court early last month. The local company claims in its court filing it cleaned the 5 Northside Drive site of all hazardous materials and built a building for the coffee company based on a 2007 contract which both parties signed.

The Abele company received preliminary approval for a mixed use retail space on the site from the Clifton Park Planning board under the name Firehouse Associates II on June 26, 2007.

According to court documents after preparing the site and constructing the building, Edward Abele, a principal with the company, received a phone call from Starbucks employee Alana Eagley on July 16. Eagley, the documents said, told Abele the coffee company no longer wanted to open a store on the Northside Drive site.

Abele wrote two letters to Starbucks later that month regarding the phone call and the contract. He said in the lawsuit he received no reply to either letter and at that point considered the contract breached.

He and his company are seeking the base rent effective Dec. 12, all expenses, all other charges for re-letting the site, and all expenses for any necessary renovations.

The documents revealed Abele Builders put $800,000 into preparing the building and the site for Starbucks. The rent for the building was to be approximately $80,000 per year for the first five years and $88,000 per year for the second five years.

After 10 years the contract called for increasing rental increments for the next 20 years.

The local construction company was to also received a pro-rated share for the operating expenses of the site like insurance and real property taxes.

Abele was prepared to deliver the 1,800-square-foot building to Starbucks on Aug. 14 when he received Eagley's July phone call. According to the legal filing, the lease between the Abele company and Starbucks forbid Abele to have other tenants like Bennigan's, Houlihan's, Ruby Tuesday's, TGIFriday's, Red Robin, Applebees, or Pizzeria UNO near the coffee shop.

An employee with a New York City public relations company representing Starbucks said the company does not confirm future store openings.

No one from Abele Builders nor the company's attorney returned calls for comment.