Mineola commuters could soon have a new spot for their morning coffee.
Starbucks has applied for a special-use permit to open a grab-and-go coffee shop at 210 Station Plaza North, the current home of the Mineola Card & Convenience Store, according to documents filed with the Village of Mineola building department.
If approved, the store would join a cohort of downtown Mineola restaurants the village’s residential development projects have attracted to the area since September.
“Right off the bat, you’re going to have an outfit with five to six thousand stores coming in there, and the whole place is going to be redefined, brightened up, and I think it’s going to become a pillar or a landmark,” said Rabhin Bakhchi, the owner of the property.
The Starbucks cafe would replace the convenience store in the 890-square-foot building adjacent to Mineola’s Long Island Rail Road station, village documents say. The application says it would not have any public seating.
Bakhchi, of Roslyn Heights, has been working with Starbucks to open the Station Plaza store for about a year and a half, he said.
A broker approached Bakhchi about the idea and connected him with the Seattle-based company, he said.
Others had approached him about opening a franchise there, but he said he liked Starbucks’ operation the best.
“They run a clean shop and they got probably the best rating,” he said.
Bakhchi said Mineola Card & Convenience Store knows Starbucks plans to occupy the store, but he does not know whether the business plans to relocate. Its staff will not be involved with the Starbucks operation, he said.
Starbucks needs approval for a special-use permit from the Village Board to operate the store and is set to present its plans at a public hearing on Wednesday.
The store would open by September if it moves ahead on schedule, Bakhchi said.
A Starbucks spokeswoman said the company could not share data on stores in specific cities, but the company had 469 locations in New York state as of September 2015.
“Starbucks is always looking for great locations to better meet the needs of our customers and we are continually evaluating our store portfolio,” a Starbucks spokeswoman said in an email. “We want to bring the right experience at the right time and are in the very early stages of considering bringing a Starbucks to the Mineola community.”
If approved, Starbucks would join three restaurants that have come to downtown Mineola since last September: Costa Nova Waffle at 211 Second St., Burrito Boulevard at 98 Mineola Blvd. and a coffee shop owned by P.S. Burger’s Carmelo Sapuppo at 196 Second St.
Like other restaurateurs, Bakhchi said Mineola’s construction of four residential apartment buildings near the station influenced his decision to partner with Starbucks there.
Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss said last week he has heard concerns from commuters about the store exacerbating traffic problems on Station Plaza, particularly during morning and evening rush hours.
“People waiting for people to get off the train, they park anywhere they want,” Strauss said.
