Plans to expand Price Center will force Wendy’s to relocate, despite the fact that the company’s current leasing contract with UCSD does not end until 2008. In order to compensate the franchise, the University Center Advisory Board will approve a lease extension for Wendy’s and pay for a new, upgraded restaurant space.
Moving out:
The proposed relocation will not occur until 2007, and it is estimated that it will cost the university $100,000, according to University Centers Director Gary R. Ratcliff.
In 2003, students approved the Price Center expansion referendum, which included self-assessed fees to pay for the growth of Price Center and the expansion of Student Center. The project’s Building Advisory Committee, which oversees the design of the project, recommended building a new food court and an atrium where students can dine.
“The Building Advisory Committee wanted them connected,” Advisory Committee Co-chair and UCAB Chair Jessica Kort said. “We want to have one dining facility and for it to look like the same building.”
Ratcliff said UCAB will have to relocate Wendy’s to make space for the connection between the new extension and the current food court.
“We are going to build a corridor where the Wendy’s is and move it to the new food court,” Ratcliff said.
The move will force Wendy’s to close down for up to one month, despite the campus’ contractual obligation to provide a space for the restaurant under its lease agreement.
Ratcliff said that due to the inconvenience, a lease extension will be granted to Wendy’s, but that the two parties have not yet agreed on the final details of the deal.
“That is part of our strategy, so they will absorb some of the cost of the move,” Ratcliff said.
However, UCAB has not officially approved a new lease agreement with Wendy’s.
“I didn’t sign the lease agreement, but I think this is a special case because we are stuck, due to the timing,” Kort said. “But we haven’t been having any issues with [Wendy’s], so we have no reason not to renew their lease.”
In addition, UCSD has agreed to pay for a new upgraded Wendy’s restaurant space.
“What we are going to do is provide them a semi-improved shell space,” Ratcliff said. “Typically we provide them with a [basic] shell, but this space is special because they are moving at our request. … They are still going to have to move their restaurant equipment.”
Ratcliff said relocating Wendy’s was the most cost-effective option for building a corridor that would seamlessly connect both the old and new dining facilities.
“We were going to expand the existing corridor behind Panda Express, but there is a [media center] closet, and the cost of moving that would have been up to $1 million, so moving the Wendy’s is cheaper,” Ratcliff said.
UCAB is trying to coordinate the transition with Wendy’s by building the walkway last, so the restaurant will be closed for the shortest time period possible. The rest of the food court will remain operational throughout the construction, according to Ratcliff.
“[We] hope they will leave [building the corridor] for the last minute, so we can remain open,” Wendy’s manager David Toocker said.
The cost of plans to expand Price Center is estimated to be $56 million.
Construction is expected to begin during the 2006-07 school year, but the Wendy’s relocation is not expected to take place until 2007.
“Wendy’s lovers will not have to fret — the goal is to have it closed for as little time as possible,” Ratcliff said.
