Why This Former Restaurant Space in Newburgh Has Stayed Empty

This Orange County restaurant has been vacant, here are 3 reasons why that might be.

I always notice this empty restaurant every time I go to the Newburgh Waterfront. I've always wondered why nothing has occupied it and why it has been empty for a decent amount of time now. Turns out, there's a pretty crazy backstory behind the restaurant, it's previous owners and more reasons could be why people are apprehensive about opening a new business there.

Here's a picture of the location:

3 Reasons Why The Building That Housed Andiamo Italian Restaurant Is Empty:

1) This is just crazy, the restaurant saw it's fair share of legal trouble. According to officials, the former restaurant owner Zef Gjuashaj and his niece (nephew's wife) Marina Gjuashaj allegedly intentionally set the restaurant on fire to collect the insurance money from it. Both were reportedly charged with first degree arson and insurance fraud. So between fire damage and overall bad energy it's no wonder people have passed on this place.

2) There are already a ton of restaurants right down the road on the Newburgh Waterfront. This former restaurant is located on Plank Road and that's generally the road people take to head down to the water. There are so many cool restaurants down by the waterfront and most people like to head down there for the beautiful view. So it could be empty because people know how many other restaurants there are, they are lacking the view of the water and it could be very hard to stand out.

3) Newburgh's reputation could also be an issue. Hey, I think Newburgh is making great progress, but many people are hesitant to go there. It's not always on the top of list for people of places to check out for a day trip. Here's to hoping that changes and the city makes even more progress. So the dicy reputation of Newburgh might not help when it comes to potential buyers.

I'm hopeful that someone will purchase the empty space and do something amazing with it.

Here's an empty space that could use some work as well: