Halpern Enterprises is excited to announce two new freestanding Starbucks stores under development by its build to suit division led by vice president Marc Kirchhoff, CCIM.
The Starbucks at North Griffin Square shopping center is scheduled to open this summer and will be the only freestanding location in Griffin, Ga. Starbucks representative Dexter Patterson said, “We are excited to bring the Starbucks brand to the community of Griffin.”
The project initially faced several challenges. Starbucks’s site design requirements necessitated the existing parcel at the center to be subdivided, which meant a number of variances needed to be secured to accommodate their needs.
The site, which is extremely narrow, required Halpern to fit the store inside an existing parking lot with drive aisles on three sides that could not be moved. Under Kirchhoff’s leadership, the site was successfully designed to fit within the constraints. The project also required relocating a Bank of America ATM that was in the site’s path.
Rendering of the freestanding Starbucks location in Griffin, Ga.
“Starbucks is one of the world’s largest retailers in terms of their number of stores, and they have unique requirements that contribute to their success” said Kirchhoff, “We used our skill set to overcome some very challenging site and permitting requirements to deliver exactly what Starbucks desired. There is satisfaction when your team is successfully able to resolve issues and get stores built for your client.”
The second location on Salem Rd. in Conyers, Ga., saw significant challenges as well, as the municipality had placed a moratorium on sanitary sewer discharge. “Some communities reach limits where they need to reevaluate their infrastructure and capacities,” according to Kirchhoff, “but after several months we were successful in obtaining the authorization required to make the Starbucks store a reality.”
Another challenge in Conyers was the inability to secure a curb cut on Salem Road, the main thoroughfare. Halpern’s team created a shared access drive with a neighboring restaurant to create proper circulation and easy ingress and egress for customers, including the required stacking for cars in the Starbucks drive thru lane.
As for future projects, Kirchhoff said Halpern seeks restaurants and retailers who want to expand their brands through expert site selection, development, and construction services designed to meet their specific goals.
“We’re helping Starbucks expand their footprint one store at a time,” said Kirchhoff. “We go into markets, find the right site, and go through the permit and entitlement process so we can build stores for our clients.”
The 2,200 SF Starbucks in Conyers is scheduled to open in spring 2018 at the intersection of Salem Road at Ellington Road.