From
patch
Another fast casual chain of restaurants is looking to move in to the Village at Newtown Shopping Center.
Five Guys is looking to occupy a space at 2804 S. Eagle Rd formerly held by Salad Works, which closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Newtown Township Planning Commission will hear the developer's conditional use application at its virtual Tuesday meeting via Zoom at 7:30 p.m. Click here to join the meeting.
As of 2016, Five Guys had over 1,500 locations open worldwide, with 1,500 locations under development.
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Fast-food establishments like this won't help offset the need for higher real estate taxes in Newtown. Here's why:
I looked up what Five Guys pays workers on GlassDoor and it ranges from $21K to $30K per year. The oft-mentioned goal of advisors to the Newtown Board of Supervisors (e.g., the Economic Development Committee, aka EDC) is to bring new HIGH-PAYING jobs to Newtown by making Newtown more business friendly.
The ultimate goal is be less dependent on real estate tax on residents by substantially increasing Earned Income Tax (EIT) revenue, which is based on 1% of wages of non-residents who work in Newtown or 0.5% for residents (none of whom would work for $21K per year!).
Therefore, each Five Guys "Crew Member" would contribute only $210 to $300 per year in EIT. The application says there will be 8 employees. Those employees will pay $4,500 (at most) in EIT to Newtown per year (half that if the employees are Newtown residents - the other half would go to the Council Rock school district).
Admittedly, we are not going to be able to have high-paying jobs located in the Village at Newtown Shopping Center, but the EDC is talking about the Business Commons district of Newtown and one type of business the EDC thinks should be allowed there are more restaurants!
Perhaps such amenities might help real estate brokers fill empty office space, but that space needs to be filled with businesses that pay high salaries, not $21K per year! Just sayin'