The operators of Wheatfields restaurants in Saratoga Springs and Clifton Park will open a restaurant this winter in downtown Malta.
The restaurant planned in the Ellsworth Commons development on Route 9 won’t be another Wheatfields, but partners Timothy Holmes and Stephen Holmes wouldn’t provide specifics. The partners are not related.
“We’re creating a new full-service concept,” said Tim Holmes. “It’s a new concept that the Wheatfields organization is going for.”
The partners made the announcement after the Malta Planning Board approved a new 1,740-square-foot outdoor patio, something the pair said was essential to their plans.
Wheatfields restaurants are known for their quality, premises-made pasta and other Italian dishes.
The restaurant would be the first to move into Ellsworth Commons, a high-density development that includes 312 apartments and 70,000 square-feet of retail space. “We’re extremely excited about having them coming into Ellsworth Commons,” said Bruce Schnitz, one of the partners in the development.
The apartment complex is now about 80 percent rented, Schnitz said, and the partners hope to have all the retail space leased by the end of 2013.
“Apartment rentals have exceeded our expectations,” Schnitz said. “Retail is on target.”
The other current commercial tenants are DNS Electronics and Myrtle Street Obstetrics and Gynecology, but Schnitz said the Holmeses have options for other restaurant space in the development, as well as the space they plan to open in by February.
The arrival of a new full-service restaurant would be another sign of increased economic activity in downtown Malta. A Recovery Sports Grill is scheduled to open in September on Route 9, next to Ellsworth Commons.
“I live in Malta, and I see all this growth going on,” Tim Holmes said. “I think Malta can support several high-quality restaurants.”
The town is seeing general growth tied to the opening of the GlobalFoundries computer chip plant in Luther Forest and other high-tech development.
