A nearly 40-year-old restaurant in Denton called New York Sub Hub might be one of five businesses forced to close, reports the Denton Record-Chronicle. New York Sub Hub owner Hunter Christiansen says he's fighting it.
The restaurant was among the four addresses that received letters from the University of North Texas, stating it plans to purchase their properties or acquire them under eminent domain. The university has not shared plans for those addresses, and Christiansen says he hasn't been told, either. The general idea is to use the space for campus growth.
"As we've grown to a community of nearly 45,000 people, we've overwhelmed our existing space," says Bob Brown, vice president of finance and administration for UNT, in an email. "We need more classrooms, labs and housing, but our campus borders limit where we can seek additional space to build necessary infrastructure."
Sub Hub was offered $700,000 for its property at 906 Ave. C, shared with Naranja Cafe, a letter shows. Christiansen says he plans to reject the proposal. Businesses that don't agree to a price will be asked to counteroffer and the state will get involved in the negotiations.
The other properties that the university hopes to acquire include Eagle Car Wash, Campus Bookstore and Oriental Express.
Christiansen maintains that even if the restaurant is forced to close, he wouldn't be able to find another spot in Denton that would match the one his family opened in 1980.
"We're not going to get the foot traffic that we get here anywhere else in town," he says. He cites closeness to faculty — "who walk over so they don't lose their parking spots" — as well as students, both in classrooms and in nearby dorms.
"We just won't get that same business somewhere else," he says.
Christiansen tells the DRC the university didn't contact him to discuss the sale. "Considering we've been in business here for 40 years across the street, and probably every single person who is involved in this has probably come here to eat, it's a little unreal no one has ever sat down to talk to us." A representative at the university told the DRC that the team was "trying to be consistent with each of the property owners," which was why Christiansen didn't receive a phone call.
Christiansen says he got a degree in mechanical engineering but agreed to take over the family business 7 years ago from his dad.
"We're not a McDonald's or a Chick-fil-A," he says. "We're the definition of a second-generation family business."
More to come on this story as plans are (or aren't) made with the university.
