Local & State Headlines

Downtown restaurant limits menu to avoid closing

• Staff members want to keep a downtown resaturant open, a developer says.

Susan McCord

ALBANY — After a brief incarnation as Flint River Cafe, a downtown restaurant closed its doors monday – almost.

"It's not open; it's not closed," said developer Peter Studl, who owns the former Hubble's restaurant and several other properties in downtown Albany.

While the family operating the 311 N. Washington St. restaurant since January "seems to have moved on," several staff members, including the chef, want to keep the restaurant open, and have resumed serving a limited menu, Studl said.

The Chicago native said making a business work in downtown Albany is challenging, but possible, and cited the success of Riverfront BBQ, his tenant at 105 W. Broad Ave.

"You have to throw a pretty good bull's-eye to make it work down there, and (owner) Dale Saunders threw a bull's-eye," he said.

The former Hubble's restaurant opened in 1927 and enjoyed great popularity until closing in the 1980s. Studl reopened it with the same name in 2005, as well as Georgia Fries and Popcorn in the Park. All have since closed, as did Bit Top Dogs, which was open in another of his downtown properties for a few months during 2007.

"This is a difficult project, this whole downtown, but it can get done," said Studl, who recently advertised his downtown holdings on eBay for $12.5 million.

The eBay ad hasn't led to the sale of the properties; it's more of an effort to attract partners in downtown development, Studl said.

Local interest in the 25 downtown properties he owns is limited, he said.

"There are calls, but there aren't as many proven operators," Studl said. "Some of the business concepts are weak, and a lot of folks don't have the capital to start a business."

Since 1970, growth along Dawson Road all the way to the Albany Mall and Ledo Road has created nearly 4 million square feet of commercial property, while metro Albany has grown by only 35,000 people, Studl said.

But the right platform employed in Downtown Albany could "pull people out of Atlanta for a three-hour drive," he said.

Utilizing downtown assets such as the RiverQuarium, the platform "adds income to eh whole market, not just transfers it," he said.

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