Water + sewer = second Stewart's for Cobleskill

6/11/2013

By Jim Poole

Cobleskill's east side water and sewer project is barely off the drawing board, and it's already generating business.
Stewart's Shops purchased the Crossroads Barn property at Shad Point and plans to put one of its convenience stores there.
Construction won't begin immediately; Stewart's will wait until the water and sewer lines are in, according to company spokesman Tom Lewis.
The new store will be right on the corner, at the intersection of Routes 7 and 145.
Stewart's will continue to have tenants in the Crossroads Barn, Mr. Lewis said.
"We have about 120 stores with tenants next to the shop," he said. "Some have just one; some have four."
Stewart's first looked at the property in 1996, but extensive bedrock and the fact that the barn's septic system was right where the store would be killed that plan.
The company looked again in 2004 and reached the same conclusion.
"But the town extending the sewer line, that solved the problem," Mr. Lewis said.
"We give a lot of thanks to the leadership of [Cobleskill Supervisor] Tom Murray and the town board. Without the sewer line, there's no project."
Discussed for years, the water and sewer lines will run from the village to Howe Caverns and are seen as a catalyst for development along Route 7.
Stewart's bought the property from Realty USA.
Stewart's usually doesn't buy property until it's ready to build, Mr. Lewis said. In Cobleskill, the company will be waiting about a year before construction.
"We did something here we almost never do," Mr. Lewis said. "But there will be some cash flow from the tenants in the Crossroads Barn."
He credited Stewart's colleague Chuck Marshall with handling the negotiations.
Based in Saratoga Springs, Stewart's has 330 shops in Upstate New York and Vermont.
There are four in Schoharie County: Cobleskill, Schoharie, Middleburgh and Sharon Springs.