Quattro Development and Take 5 Oil — A Success Story in Batavia, New York

• (Photo : Emiliano Bar on Unsplash)

Real estate development is essential to growing local economies, but it's far from a simple endeavor. Developers navigate a complex web of regulations to develop land into businesses that support communities. 

Quattro Development is a national build-to-suit developer that worked diligently to help its client, Take 5 Oil Change, gain approval for a new location in Batavia, New York. Quattro located the perfect site for Take 5 - an old T-Mobile retail space on the west side of the city.

Quattro was more than ready to take on the job. "Take 5 began in Louisiana and has been expanding pretty rapidly," said Quattro Development's Peter Pavek. "Now we are working on several in Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, in the major [upstate New York] cities, and we're targeting Amherst, Tonawanda, and Lockport, and now Batavia."

However, zoning regulations and concerns over green space left the project in limbo for months. Pavek and his Quattro Development consultant Evan Gefell worked to gain special use and variance requests from the city over the course of several meetings spanning May to July 2023. 

The May 2023 City Planning and Development Committee Meeting 

Take 5 Oil Change specializes in 15-minute oil changes that allow customers to remain in their vehicles during service. The business only offers oil changes, wiper blade changes, and air filter changes, so it can serve dozens of customers a day without inconvenient lines forming. 

In May 2023, Pavek met with the Batavia City Planning and Development Committee to discuss the new Take 5 project. He asked the committee for permission to remove the existing building at the site located in Valu Plaza and renovate it to make it suitable for oil changes. The building previously housed a T-Mobile, a drive-through bank, and a jewelry exchange. 

Doug Randall with Batavia's code enforcement department said the site could only include two oil bays because of zoning regulations, which Pavek agreed to. 

The committee also had concerns about the removal of green space for this project. "Any additional green space you can maintain, that'd be great," shared committee member Ed Flynn. Pavek agreed to return with a more detailed site plan that accounted for more green space. 

Quattro Development Returns With Detailed Site Plans

In July 2023, Quattro Development consultant Gefell returned to meet with the committee. Quattro noted the committee's concerns about green space and presented the new design. Fortunately, Take 5's unique business model actually made it easier to add green space.

"So the model of this is, you stay in your car, it's a 10-minute oil change, and then you continue on. It's a little traffic generator, it doesn't require a lot of parking, it's just kind of for the staff since the user stays in their vehicle," Gefell explained. "This allowed us to really expand the green space on site. It's increased the green space from 24% to 47%. You can see some of the trees and the buffering and landscape that we've added."

The committee did worry about long lines and traffic congestion with just two oil bays, which Quattro also accounted for in its design. "We're not concerned about queuing with the two bays. And I think some traffic or data was presented or provided, but peak hours, you know, it's not a significant amount of customers at one time for traffic generators," Gefell said.

At the end of the public hearing, the committee found that the plan wouldn't have a negative impact on the environment and granted the special use permit. "It's a good plan, lots of green space," committee Chairman Duane Preston said. 

Quattro Development Proceeds With Zoning for the Take 5 Project

Over the course of several months, Quattro Development fine-tuned its design for the Take 5 Oil Change site to balance the needs of the community with Take 5's business model. While permitting is now approved, the project doesn't have the green light just yet. Quattro's team will now work with Batavia's zoning board of appeals to review the zoning variance, but the project's positive progress means Batavia could likely have a Take 5 location in the coming year.