Yonkers restaurateur Robert Leggio hosted a program yesterday for people interested in opening up their own dining spot in the city, but decided to forgo the valet parking for the afternoon.
Why? To give people who want to get into the business a practical example of what they need to think about, he said. Will your prospective customers be able to get to your establishment easily?
Leggio's Zuppa restaurant, on Main Street in Yonkers' downtown waterfront district, was standing room only for the program. The city is trying to drive the growth of more food establishments in the waterfront area as the number of apartment projects continues to grow.
During the program, the clatter of construction could be heard from across the street, where a 10-story, 170-unit apartment building is going up. Another 294 rental units are under construction a few blocks away for the second phase of the Hudson Park apartment development on the waterfront. Projects calling for more than 2,500 other units are in the proposal stages.
"What you're seeing here is only the tip of the iceberg," Mayor Philip Amicone told the crowd of developers, landlords, brokers, city officials, restaurant owners, and prospective restaurateurs. "Over the next five, six years, you'll see more than $3 billion in development" within the immediate neighborhood.
Amicone said the city is prepared to help new restaurant owners with tax breaks and zoning issues, in an unobtrusive style.
"I can guarantee you will always have a partner, and in many cases a silent partner, because when you succeed as a business, we succeed as a community," he said.
Prospective restaurant owners can use all the help they can get.
The failure rate of new dining spots is high, chiefly because of a lack of capital. Plenty of cash is needed to tide a new restaurant over, for months or even years, before sales reach a level that covers labor, overhead, and other expenses. Some restaurants supplement their business with catering.
Leggio, who opened Zuppa with his father, Philip Leggio, in 2003, said it was three to four years before the business was profitable. It was a leap of faith in the downtown waterfront area that has since been vindicated by the arrival of other restaurants, Leggio said, including Peter Kelly's X2O Xaviers on the Hudson.
With commercial rents running about $30 a square foot in the downtown, restaurants will find it cheaper to operate in the downtown versus other parts of the county. But not for long, Amicone warned.
"You can see what's happening in White Plains," he said. "Now is the time to get involved."
Would-be restaurateurs yearning for a place of their own will get a lift from the city of Yonkers tomorrow.
Looking to attract more dining spots and food stores in the downtown waterfront area, the city will hold a forum outlining the opportunities and tax breaks the city is willing to offer.
The event will start at 2 p.m. at Zuppa Restaurant, which opened at 59 Main St. in 2003. Mayor Philip Amicone will be on hand, along with Zuppa co-owner Robert Leggio, X2O Xaviars owner Peter Kelly, Struever Fidelco Cappelli project manager Peter Klein, and Steve Sansone, executive director of the downtown-waterfront Business Improvement District.
The program is driven chiefly by more than 3,000 apartment units that are either proposed for construction in the waterfront area or have already been built. Two projects already are under construction: the second phase of Hudson Park with 294 rental apartments, and the Main Street Lofts with 170 units.
To reserve a space at the forum, contact the Yonkers BID office at 914-969-6660 or e-mail Jessica Ardrey at jardrey@yonkersdowntown.com.
