The former Jan’s Roadhouse restaurant on Route 50 may get new life as a coffee shop.
New owner Fred Ogle plans to turn the vacant restaurant at 658 Saratoga Road into the Creekside Cafe and Coffee House. He said this is a family business venture with his son Jeff, significant other Patricia Williams, daughter Lori Brown and her husband David Brown.
“We decided we wanted to give it a try. The price was very reasonable for the building when we bought it,” he said.
The building cost $100,000, which does not include renovation costs. All the booths and kitchen equipment were antiquated, according to Ogle. He is installing new furniture and knotty pine on all the walls.
“We’re definitely excited. It’s a lot of work — a lot still to go but we are starting to make some headway. The interior of the building was in rough shape,” he said.
Ogle hopes to be open by Sept. 1. In addition, he is adding new siding, roof and windows. He is also going to blacktop the entire parking area, add on a deck and build a garage. He hopes to have a 12-space gravel parking lot for when they do additional business.
Ogle envisions an upscale cafe serving espressos, cappuccino and lattes at the building, which is about one mile south of the Burnt Hills hamlet line on Route 50.
“We’re also going to buy our own coffee roster. It’s not going to be a big one,” he said.
In the morning, there would be a variety of pastries and breakfast sandwiches. He plans to stick to sandwiches and salads for the rest of the day.
Ogle said he is thinking about having music on Friday and Saturday nights, which wouldn’t go too late in the day.
Next summer, they hope to serve ice cream.
Ogle already owns three businesses, including a trucking logistics business called Froland Transportation since 1991, J & F Yard & Lawn Care with his grandson since 2008 and a rental company called 312 Stage Road LLC, which owns the building his transportation business is in as well as the cafe building and soon another single-family residence.
Also, Ogle said at one point had lived on Sacandaga Lake and refurbished a restaurant building on Route 29 and ran it for 21⁄2 months.
The Glenville Environmental Conservation Commission has already reviewed the project. Commission members seemed pleased with the proposed reuse of the business. “It’s a lovely spot,” said commission member Judy Buhrmaster.
The commission wanted to make sure that the proposed garage is not going over the existing leech field.
Now, the project heads to the Planning and Zoning Commission for a preliminary site plan approval on July 9 at 7 p.m. Town Planner Mike Burns said he doesn’t anticipate any issues. “They’re just trying to reoccupy a vacant building, which we love. Good for them. It’s good for the community,” he said.
A conditional use permit will be needed from the Zoning Board of Appeals because the building has been vacant for more than a year. Burns did not know exactly when Jan’s Roadhouse closed but said it was probably around two years ago.
Ogle said it is a highly visible location with a lot of traffic and he is excited about the opportunity.
“I think it’s an excellent spot and it’s up to us to put out a good product to make it work,” he said.
Categories: Business
