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Business & Tech

Sonic Still On Tap For Manchester, Hopefully, By May

The owners of Connecticut's Sonic franchise say they still plan to open a location in Manchester, delayed by a neighboring deed restriction.

Robert Mesite says the Manchester area has been clamoring for a Sonic—and he is hoping to deliver it by May.

“Our fans have been Facebooking us and emailing us to death because the UConn students, the college students, that whole [Manchester] area is dying for their Sonic,” said Mesite, the Operations Manager for Sonic of Connecticut.

But things have not gone exactly as planned since the Planning and Zoning Commission approved the Mesite family’s application in July 2010 to build a Sonic drive-in fast food restaurant at 90 Buckland St., the former site of The 99 Restaurant.

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The Mesites had hoped to open the Manchester Sonic in November 2010. However, over seven months after PZC approval, construction has yet to begin since ExxonMobil, which used to operate a Mobil gas station with a convenience store next door at 112 Buckland St., holds a “quick serve restaurant” deed restriction that has prevented the opening of Connecticut’s second Sonic location.

The Mesites opened the first Connecticut Sonic in Wallingford, their base of operations, last July.

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Though ExxonMobil would not initially release the restriction—which is for five years and runs through January 2013—a breakthrough could be on the horizon, according to Mesite.

“Mobil did not want to release it right away; we’ve tried since February 2010,” explained Mesite. “We’ve been in negotiations with them since... they’re now willing to release it.”

A statement from Amy D. Blanchett, public and government affairs advisor for ExxonMobil, indicated negotiations are indeed taking place—but offered little other information.

“Presently, ExxonMobil has a use restriction on the adjacent property located at 90 Buckland St. ExxonMobil is cooperating with all interested parties and negotiations are ongoing. It is the general practice of ExxonMobil not to publicly discuss ongoing negotiations, as such we are not at liberty to disclose details of the negotiations related to this property,” said Blanchett.

Mesite said ExxonMobil has not given him “a clear answer” as to why it would not release the QSR restriction, but with the gas station closed, he said Mobil now has little use for it.

“Since the gas station closed, there’s really no reason for them to have the QSR restriction because they’re not protecting the Mobil station convenience store,” said Mesite.

The QSR restriction did not come as a surprise to Mesite and his family, who found out about it while researching whether or not to purchase the property at 90 Buckland St. Despite the QSR, Mesite said the decision was made to buy the property anyway. Thus, in September 2010, 90 Buckland St. LLC—owned by the Mesites— purchased the parcel from Pearleon LLC ETALS.

According to staff in the Assessor’s office, the 99 Restaurant shut its doors for good in late 2009. ExxonMobil leased the 112 Buckland property from 1986 until 2008 and operated a Mobil-branded service station from approximately 1987 until 2006, said Blanchett.

“On January 25, 2008, ExxonMobil purchased the property based on obligations of the lease,” she noted. According to the Assessor’s office, ExxonMobil purchased the property from John Barnini and Griswold B. Trust.

In addition, ExxonMobil is negotiating “in good faith” in regard to the sale of its property on 112 Buckland St., said Blanchett.           

Manchester’s Senior Planner Renata Bertotti pointed out that the Mesites could have risked being sued by ExxonMobil had they gone ahead with plans to build the Sonic before negotiating a release of the QSR restriction.

“It has nothing to do with the town but they [ExxonMobil] do have that restriction and they [Sonic] need to either negotiate it away or they need to wait until it expires,” said Bertotti. “On our end—the [Planning and Zoning] commission approved them and they’re fine. They’re good to go at their leisure; they can continue whenever they’re ready to go.”

The positive direction negotiations appear to be heading has Mesite feeling optimistic. “We’re storming ahead with our building permits…once we get our building permits in hand … we will make a huge announcement that it’s here, it’s coming and it will come very quickly once we start building,” he noted.

Once construction commences, the former restaurant will be knocked down and Sonic will rise in its place. “We will be constructing an 1,800 square foot building, with an additional 30’x 30’ outdoor covered, heated patio. We will have 20 [ordering] stalls and a drive thru,” said Mesite.

The Oklahoma City-based Sonic has restaurants in over 40 states, but did not expand to Connecticut until last year, when the first Nutmeg State location opened in Wallingford. Customers came from throughout the state in the first several months after the opening of the Wallingford location, often leading to traffic congestion along Route 5, the town's busiest commercial strip. 

According to Mesite, the plan was to build the first Connecticut Sonic in Manchester, but the QSR restriction precluded that from happening. According to Mesite, many sites in and around Manchester were considered. “We have been working on this site since 2009,” he said. “There were several locations that were willing to close their doors. I cannot say who they are since they are still in business.”

Sonic of Connecticut’s current objective is to build eight to 15 Sonics in the Constitution State over the next three to four years. Sites are being considered in Milford, Waterbury, the Berlin Turnpike area and New London, according to Mesite.

Mesite urged those interested in keeping up with news about the Manchester Sonic to become a fan of Sonic of Connecticut on Facebook.  

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