Since May, six national or regional names have lined up plans for Cicero's commercial corridor. One of them has a published grand opening date. The rest are at different steps of the same process. For the ones on Brewerton Road and Route 31, the Town of Cicero Planning Board agenda has been a better guide to timing than any press announcement.
The pattern repeats across the corridor. Brewerton Road projects that bring new parking or traffic questions keep returning to the board. Smaller changes to existing sites get approved in one meeting. A chain announcing that it's coming to Cicero only starts the process. The town's agendas and minutes show where each project actually stands.
One Opening Date and Five Projects Still in Process
As of early October 2026, here is where each project stands, based on the most recent local reporting and town documents.
| Project | Location | Latest status | Source date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Burlington | Former OfficeMax, Market Place Shopping Center, 5671 Circle Drive East | Grand opening announced for Sept. 18 | Sept. 9 and Sept. 21 |
| CarMax | East Circle Drive and Frontage Road, in front of the Ollie's and Get Air plaza | Under construction, no opening timeline | Sept. 15 |
| Shake Shack | Former Walgreens, Brewerton Road at Caughdenoy Road | Marked "To Return" in August, back on the Oct. 7 agenda | Aug. 19 and Oct. 7 |
| 7 Brew | Former mattress store next to Goodwill on Brewerton Road | Sketch plan review in August, traffic study outstanding | Aug. 5 and Aug. 26 |
| Holland Farms | Former Metabolic Fitness off Route 31 near Pardee Road | Waiting on approvals and permits, goal is before Thanksgiving | Aug. 27 |
| Mi Rancho Alegre | 7991 State Route 31 | Proposed restaurant, on the Sept. 16 agenda | July 5 and Sept. 16 |
Burlington is the only one with a date attached. WSYR reported that the store's grand opening in the former OfficeMax near Driver's Village was set for Friday, Sept. 18, with an 8:45 a.m. ribbon cutting. The New York State Department of Labor lists the address as 5671 Circle Drive East and, in an update dated Sept. 21, still described the opening as planned for Sept. 18.
CarMax is the most visible project to anyone driving East Circle Drive. WSYR described active construction in September on what it called the chain's first Central New York site. The station said it would keep following the timeline and gave no opening date.
The rest of the table is still in front of the Planning Board, and the board is setting the pace.
The Former Walgreens Keeps Coming Back
Shake Shack opened its first Onondaga County location in DeWitt almost a year ago, at Erie Boulevard and Bridge Street across from Chick-fil-A. Its second would be in Cicero, in the former Walgreens on Brewerton Road, which closed in April 2025. Syracuse.com gave the address as 7939 Brewerton Road. Town documents list the site as 7973 Brewerton Road and Caughdenoy Road, filed under Streamline Real Estate Acquisitions, LLC as the "Proposed Redevelopment of Former Walgreens."
The plan has already changed. Mark Marzullo, who chairs the Cicero Planning Board, told syracuse.com that Shake Shack's original site plan included a drive-through and that it has since been removed. Three other tenants would share the building, and none have been named yet. Board members asked Shake Shack to make sure the site has enough parking.
Those details explain the slow pace. The parking requirement depends on what fills the rest of the building, and that is still unknown. At the board's Aug. 19 meeting, the Walgreens redevelopment came away marked "To Return." It is listed again on the agenda for Wednesday, Oct. 7. Wednesday's meeting will show whether the site has an answer on parking. No opening date exists until it does.
A 500-Square-Foot Coffee Stand Waiting on a Traffic Study
7 Brew is smaller, but it has hit the same kind of question. The drive-through coffee chain proposed a 500-square-foot stand to replace a mattress store next to Goodwill, across Brewerton Road from Home Depot, Starbucks and Chick-fil-A. WSYR reported in late August that the proposal still needed Planning Board approval, that traffic concerns had come up, and that a traffic study was still outstanding.
The town's Aug. 5 agenda listed 7 Brew for sketch plan review, the earliest stage of the process. It does not appear on the published agendas for Aug. 19, Sept. 2 or Sept. 16, or on the upcoming Oct. 7 agenda. That doesn't mean the project has stalled or been turned down. A traffic study takes time, and no approval has been published.
A drive-through coffee stand lives or dies on how cars get in and out. On the busiest stretch of Brewerton Road, the traffic study is the step that decides when, and whether, 7 Brew opens.
Holland Farms Has a Lease and a Target Date but No Permits Yet
Holland Farms, the 70-year-old Utica bakery, has already shown how it does in this market. It marked one year in Manlius this August by handing out free cake. In May it signed a lease for the former Metabolic Fitness space off Route 31, near Interstate 81 and Pardee Road. A month later it announced a second new location in the former Second Chance Diner at 5407 W. Genesee St. in Camillus.
As of Aug. 27, owner Heather Portzeba said the bakery was still working on approvals and permits before construction could begin. The goal is to open before Thanksgiving, and WSYR's report said the timeline could slip. Thanksgiving is about seven weeks away, and permits and construction both still have to happen first.
Route 31 has more in the pipeline. The Sept. 16 agenda listed Mi Rancho Alegre's proposed restaurant at 7991 State Route 31 and a proposed daycare from Tocco Villaggio III at 5533 State Route 31. Syracuse.com first reported the Mi Rancho Alegre proposal in July. The daycare is on the Oct. 7 agenda too.
What Got Approved in One Meeting
The same Aug. 19 meeting that sent the Walgreens site back also approved two Brewerton Road projects outright:
- CNY Golf Shop & Range at 8457 Brewerton Road was approved for a building and parking addition.
- 8061 Brewerton Road was approved for facade and wall signage improvements.
That night the board also sent back a proposed 74-unit apartment building on Brewerton Road from TR Owner, LLC, and a 5,250-square-foot building addition from Mud Mill, LLC at 5718 Mud Mill Road.
Both approvals were changes to businesses that were already operating on their sites. The projects marked "To Return" all involved bigger changes to a site or new uses. Shake Shack and 7 Brew fit the second group. Each would bring a new pattern of cars onto Brewerton Road, and in both cases the board has asked how the site will handle it.
The Oct. 7 agenda also lists a proposed driveway from Micron NY Semiconductor Manufacturing, LLC at 8533 Brewerton Road. The agenda describes it only as a driveway application, and that is all it is so far.
Wednesday at Town Hall and the Rest of October
The board's August meeting started at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall, 8236 Brewerton Road. The Oct. 7 session will be the next public update on the former Walgreens, the Route 31 daycare and the Micron driveway.
Until the new storefronts open, these events are coming up nearby this month:
- Oct. 3 through Oct. 25: Chuck Hafner's Fall Festival at 7265 Buckley Road, North Syracuse, with family activities, food trucks and weekend programming. First Responders Weekend is Oct. 24 and 25.
- Oct. 8, 6 to 8 p.m.: Sweet Succulence's Witch's Lair Lantern workshop at Willow Rock Brewing, 6200 S. Bay Road, Cicero. The listing shows it as sold out.
- Oct. 10, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.: The 19th Annual North Syracuse Family Festival at Centerville Place and the North Syracuse Community Center, 700 South Bay Road, held together with the fire department's Annual Safety Day. Expect food trucks, music and vendors.
- Oct. 23, 6 to 8 p.m.: The free Village Trunk or Treat in North Syracuse for children 13 and under. Preregistration is required.
- Oct. 25, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Believers Chapel's Fall Fest at 7912 Thompson Road, Cicero.
The next Cicero Planning Board agenda will be the first place a new date for Shake Shack, 7 Brew or Holland Farms shows up, before any sign goes up on Brewerton Road.
If you own near Brewerton Road or Route 31 and want to know how a busier corridor plays into what your home could sell for, Jeremy Allen can walk you through recent sales nearby and what buyers are paying. Get Your Instant Home Valuation and start with real numbers.
