Ihop????? (Pittsburgh, Oakland, Penn: sales, apartments, to rent)

[szug-bot]

Originally Posted by PittNorth

...the IHOP developers are rumored to be looking for space in the northern suburbs for their second store where other national chains like California Pizza Kitchen, Sonic and others have recently opened locations.

i only experienced IHOP for the first time in 2009, in another state. their pancake syrups were incredible. i would welcome one here in the city. i was not aware they considered the Poli's location. boy, that corner is looking grim more and more as the years go by. i wish they would locate to the old poli's.

[raubre]

Originally Posted by Jrn14

What? The Panera and Barnes and Noble are closing at the Waterfront? Everytime I went to that Panera it was super busy... Where did you hear this?

I think he was talking about the closing of the Squirrel Hill stores.

[neurodistortion]

I can't say that I agree with PittNorth, first of all the IHOP is closer to the Waterfront than Squirrel Hill thus it is in a more viable area where they can capitalize on the traffic, secondly the building is up and under construction so it would be preposterous if the management decided to pull out after the building is already up and nearly completed. Also, California Pizza Kitchen at Ross Park Mall is still under construction and has not opened yet.

[ditchdigger]

i was not aware they considered the Poli's location. boy, that corner is looking grim more and more as the years go by. i wish they would locate to the old poli's.

I think you misunderstand. There was a different project propsed for the Poli's site. Raubre mentions a hotel above.

....With the closing of national chains like Panera and Barnes n Noble, the suspension of the [proposed hotel] project at the former Morrowfield/Poli location....

More clear?

[PittNorth]

Originally Posted by neurodistortion

I can't say that I agree with PittNorth, first of all the IHOP is closer to the Waterfront than Squirrel Hill thus it is in a more viable area where they can capitalize on the traffic, secondly the building is up and under construction so it would be preposterous if the management decided to pull out after the building is already up and nearly completed. Also, California Pizza Kitchen at Ross Park Mall is still under construction and has not opened yet.

Whether it's closer to Waterfront or Sq Hill is irrelevant, the Browns Hill location is within the city limits and the 15207/15217 areas while the Waterfront is south of the city in Homestead... large chains are very careful not to step on their own franchises' toes and since the Robinson location is south of the city it's not likely they'd move a second into the same general area and cut into an existing location's business, not while greater opportunities exist elsewhere. The deteriorating conditions in the 15217 zipcodes around Browns Hill Road as exemplified by the rash of business closings and suspended projects is of concern to everyone doing business there or thinking about it.

As to the building issue, if you look at the Allegheny Tax website you can see that IHOP owns no property in the area, the location is owned by one of two local development companies; Browns Hill Land Company (Union Real Estate) and Browns Hill Venture LP ... national chains rarely own the land and buildings their stores are at, developers build the site and then try to get companies to lease locations from them at their sites. If IHOP where out any money by not opening it would likely be a small amount they agreed to pay if they pulled out of a tentative lease agreement.

Word around town is they're talking to the developers of the McCandless Crossing location on McKnight Rd in McCandless and if they make a deal there the Browns Hill location is a no go... but that's just what I've heard from real estate people in the area. Could all be chatter.

One interesting story I keep hearing is how Whole Foods went from opening a store in East Liberty to planning a bigger one in the South Hills to canceling it and opening one in the North Hills. It is claimed that the east liberty store began surveying their customers some time ago as to their zip codes (this part is true because I was asked several times) and they discovered a full 50% of their customers were resident of northern suburban communities which prompted the change. If true I'd have to wonder about the viability of that location after the north store opens.

[Jrn14]

Robinson and Squirrel Hill/Waterfront are not anywhere near each other... the thought of the drive from SH to Robinson makes me cringe. I actually think it would be a faster to drive from McKnight Rd than Squirrel Hill... Also Robinson is not South it's West... Squirrel Hill is East.

[ditchdigger]

....national chains rarely own the land and buildings their stores are at, developers build the site and then try to get companies to lease locations from them at their sites. If IHOP where out any money by not opening it would likely be a small amount they agreed to pay if they pulled out of a tentative lease agreement....

Especially in today's economy, I can't imagine a developer building a free standing resturaunt building as a "spec". Also, I'm not sure whether IHOP has any sort of "signature" architectural look to their stores, but enough resturaunts do (Denny's all look like Denny's, Olive Gardens all look like Olive Gardens, etc.), that it would be pretty risky to go ahead and build something generic and hope to rent it.

I'd be willing to bet there's a pretty ironclad lease already signed and paid on.

[neurodistortion]

IHOP does have a new prototype look for their restaurants, the Robinson store is part of that prototype.

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by PittNorth

Whether it's closer to Waterfront or Sq Hill is irrelevant, the Browns Hill location is within the city limits and the 15207/15217 areas while the Waterfront is south of the city in Homestead... large chains are very careful not to step on their own franchises' toes and since the Robinson location is south of the city

Robinson is west of the city, out Parkway West, or whatever it's called. They couldn't be less competitive. Hell, Giant Eagle has Market Districts in both Shadyside and Robinson, and Shadyside's 15 minutes closer to Robinson than the iHop location on Browns Hill.

[newhope321]

When you drive by again, please notice that "Spring 2010" has been creatively cut out. They haven't pasted over it or anything -- they have simply (actually) chopped out the word "Spring" on all parts of the sign. My husband I were thinking about suing! :-)