FAIRFIELD TWP.

Plans to build the first Quaker Steak and Lube in Butler County have been put on hold.

The restaurant, first announced in 2012, had been slated to be built on a 5.3-acre lot at Joseph and Gilmore Roads near the Menards home improvement store. However, the increasing cost of construction made the project not feasible, officials told the Journal-News on Thursday.

The price for the building had been projected at $1.2 million, but estimates came in at $1.7 million, according to Jim Combs, president of Paragon Restaurant Group, the developer of the project.

The price of steel and other products went up more than I would ever have imagined, Combs said. And it was going to cost a half-million dollars more to build that building than it did our other buildings we tried to figure out how to make the economics work on it, we just couldnt do it.

Combs said it wasnt any one material that increased in price, but a range of them, from steel to signage. Costs increased anywhere from three percent to 20 percent, he said.

A report by the firm Building Design and Construction states that as of late last year, construction costs had increased for 22 consecutive months. Driving that increase were labor costs, amid concerns about the availability of skilled workers.

Combs would still like to build a restaurant there, so he wont say the project is canceled, but at least for now, it looks unlikely.

Wed love to be there. Thats the sad part about it. Maybe when things change, if the cost of materials goes down, it could revive itself, but thats not what were hearing the contractor Ive talked to (said) nothing had changed in the direction of us being able to afford the building.

Its unfortunate for the township that theyre not coming at this time, Township Trustee President Shannon Hartkemeyer said. I understand its not economically feasible for them, but I hope they reconsider. Wed love to have them.

See the article here:
Quaker Steak restaurant planned for Butler County on hold

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July 17, 2014 at 9:38 pm by Mr HomeBuilder
Category: Restaurant Construction