A long-vacant “zombie gas station” property in Lackawanna is about to come back to life as a Taco Bell restaurant.
The developer, Quick Service Realco, and its partner, Rochester-based Marathon Engineering, plan to build the restaurant at the southwest corner of Abbott and Ridge roads.
The site’s footprint includes a long-vacant former Mobil and Sunoco gas station property at 1361 Abbott Road.
Five years ago, Sen. Charles Schumer held a news conference at the location to call attention to the problem of “zombie gas stations”: shuttered locations that become blighted, with no prospects for redevelopment by their owners. At the Lackawanna site, the gas pumps were long ago removed, and the convenience store remains boarded up.
Quick Service is working on buying that property – currently owned by Sunoco Retail – along with two adjacent properties that were formerly home to a podiatry office and a parking lot for that business. Lackawanna officials said the developer plans to wrap up the purchases and obtain necessary permits and approvals by year’s end, with the goal of starting construction in spring 2024.
The city’s zoning and planning boards this week approved a site plan that would allow for construction of the Taco Bell, which would include a dine-in restaurant and drive-thru service.
“After over a decade of this property being a community eyesore, I’m excited by Quick Service Realco’s plan to construct a new Taco Bell restaurant at this prime business corner in our city,” said Lackawanna Mayor Annette Iafallo.
Separately, North Fisher Properties will move forward on its own project in Lackawanna.
North Fisher Properties has finished buying 2019 Abbott Road from the city, after being chosen as the designated developer based on its high bid of $33,000 and site plan proposal for the vacant 2.1-acre parcel.
North Fisher plans to build two warehouse and storage facilities in the first phase of its development,…
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