Aldi Grocery Approved For New Tampa!

Aldi is officially coming to New Tampa.

The petition to re-zone the property of the former Ruby Tuesday restaurant on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. was unanimously approved earlier today by the Tampa City Council on the second reading.

The city’s Development Review & Compliance staff had already found the petition, which requests to be reclassified from a PD-A (Planned Development, Alternative restaurant) to PD (Planned Development, retail sales, shopper’s goods), to be consistent with applicable City of Tampa land regulations.

The proposed Aldi store, which will be located at the corner of BBD and Highwoods Preserve Pkwy. in front of the AMC movie theater, will be 19,160 square feet — almost four times the size of Ruby Tuesday — with 106 parking spaces.

Leon Capital Group, the owners who purchased the 2.36-acre lot for $2.82 million in 2018, were represented at the first reading on Jan. 16 by Scott Stannard of Commercial Site Solutions.

Stannard said the plans include not only replacing the vacant restaurant, but enhancing the surrounding area.

“We feel it’s an improvement, actually,” Stannard told the council members. “We’ve had arborists go out and we’re going to be taking down some of the dead trees and replacing them with new landscaping and beefing that up. It will be a nice fit for what’s out there.”

Stannard also said as that, as part of the new development, a sidewalk will be built on Highwood Preserve Pkwy., to aid pedestrians who are shopping, as well as those using the bus stop at the same corner.

“It’s really surprising there’s not one there already,” Stannard said.

Aldi, a German discount grocer, will be the third supermarket to open along a less-than-one-mile stretch of the west side of BBD. It would join a Publix at the corner of BBD and New Tampa Blvd. and Sprouts Farmers Market, which will be open by this summer in the new Village at Hunter’s Lake development across from the entrance to the Hunter’s Green community.

While Publix is the largest of the three and Sprouts is a “green” grocer, Aldi is a hugely popular German discount chain that carries brands that many shoppers here in the U.S. may not recognize, including their own. More than 90 percent of the brands Aldi carries are exclusive brands.

One unique aspect of Aldi is the quarter charge to rent a shopping cart at the store, to prevent stray carts from being left in the parking lot where they can dent cars.

Users get their quarter back when they return the cart.

Another Aldi is just weeks away from opening on S.R. 56 in Wesley Chapel, right in front of the Costco.

Earth Fare To Close!

Well, that was fast.

In a rather stunning move, Earth Fare, Wesley Chapel’s first – and only – large green grocer, is closing all of its stores, including the Cypress Creek Town Center location on S.R. 56.

In a press release earlier today, the North Carolina-based grocer announced it was liquidating all of its stores nationwide, and liquidation sales will begin immediately. Even store fixtures can be had, the release noted.

“Earth Fare has been proud to serve the natural and organic grocery market, and the decision to begin the process of closing our stores was not entered into lightly,” the company said in the press release.  “We’d like to thank our Team Members for their commitment and dedication to serving our customers, and our vendors and suppliers for their partnership.”

The Wesley Chapel location will, perhaps, barely make it to its first anniversary. More than 100 shoppers lined up on Feb. 19, 2019 eager to be some of the store’s first customers.

“A gut punch,” says Hope Allen, the CEO of the North Tampa Bay Chamber of Commerce.

Allen said she had recently read about Earth Fare closing a store in Gainesville on Jan. 11 after only four years, but still didn’t think the Wesley Chapel store, which was the 12th for the company in Florida, was in any danger.

“It is very shocking,” Allen says. “I thought we would be immune from those closures because it was so recently opened.”

On a VIP tour of Earth Fare a week before it opened, CEO/president Frank Scorpiniti touted the quality of Earth Fare’s organic products, which do not contain high-fructose corn syrup, artificial fats, colors, sweeteners, or preservatives, or meats that were bred with antibiotics or growth hormones. The chain had a “boot list” — a long list of banned ingredients it does not allow in anything sold in any Earth Fare store.

At the time, Scorpiniti said the Wesley Chapel opening was just the beginning of an aggressive plan to expand Earth Fare’s footprint. At the time, the company was operating 50 stores, and Scorpiniti said he expected there to be more than 100 locations in a few years.

Earth Fare, which was founded in Asheville, NC, in 1975, said its financial struggles were too much to overcome, and hinted that its efforts had failed.

“While many of these initiatives improved the business, continued challenges in the retail industry impeded the company’s progress as well as its ability to refinance its debt,” the press release said. “As a result, Earth Fare is not in a financial position to continue to operate on a go forward basis. As such, we have made the difficult, but necessary decision to commence inventory liquidation sales while we continue to engage in a process to find potential suitors for our stores.”

Wesley Chapel District Park To Get Street Hockey Rink

The transformation of the Wesley Chapel District Park (WCDP) on Boyette Rd. continues.

Not only is the park getting an indoor basketball gymnasium — hopefully later this year — and not only is it now home to local cricket players, and not only does it have the only inclusive playground for children with disabilities in the area, it also will soon be home to a street hockey rink.

On Jan. 7, Pasco County finalized an agreement with the Tampa Bay Lightning to build two outdoor street hockey rinks in the county, one at the J. Ben Harrill Recreation Complex in Holiday, and the other at WCDP.

“When they first came up here (with the idea), they were going to do one, but our county is so wide and we have such an interest that they were nice to agree to do two,” said District 3 Pasco Commissioner Kathryn Starkey, who was originally pitched the idea.

The rinks will measure 60’ by 120’ feet, and will come with pins for dasher board systems, player benches, a penalty box area and a scoreboard.

Pasco County has budgeted $240,000 from the Capital Improvement Plan Projects Fund for the rinks, most of which will go towards the underlying concrete pads. The Lightning Foundation will take care of the rest.

“It’s obviously exciting anytime you can introduce kids to a new sport,” said District 2 Pasco Commissioner Mike Moore, who has spearheaded the indoor facility, cricket field and inclusive playground at the park. “It’s a positive, nice entry point for kids who can go to a public facility and not have to pay to get on there to learn.”

Jay Feaster, the Lightning’s vice president of community hockey development, told Pasco’s commissioners that the NHL team has donated 106,000 Lightning logo street hockey sticks and balls to children at 503 middle schools as part of their Build The Thunder program. This is the fifth year of the program.

“As Bruce Springsteen once said, I realized after I put all them people in all them cars, I had to figure out someplace for all them to go,” Feaster said.

So, after three years of distributing equipment as part of the Build The Thunder program, the Lightning now have the Connect The Thunder Initiative, with the team committed to building 10 outdoor street hockey rinks in nearby counties.

“We realized we had to have someplace for the youngsters to play,” Feaster said.

In addition to building the street hockey rink at WCDP, Feaster said the Lightning also will provide former players to help assist in the Grand Opening as well as programming throughout the year. 

“We’re pretty excited about it,” he said.

Wesley Chapel already is home to AdventHealth Center Ice (AHCI), the largest skating facility south of New York in the United States. AHCI is being rightfully credited with increasing the popularity of ice skating in the New Tampa and Wesley Chapel areas, and has been drawing more than a million visitors each year of its existence. 

The outdoor street hockey rink will open the door for more people who might not be able to afford hockey equipment to be introduced to playing the sport.

“I think we have more kids that play hockey around here than anywhere in Florida,” Moore says. “The Bruce B. Downs corridor (down through New Tampa) has a lot of kids who play, and this will only help give (more) opportunities to others.”

Urban Air Adventure Park Set Open In Tampa Palms Jan. 25!

It won’t be long before Wesley Chapel has its own “trampoline park” at The Grove, and it’s own bowling and laser tag center at Main Event on S.R. 56, but Urban Air Adventure Park will beat both of them to the punch when it opens next week in Tampa Palms.

Urban Air Adventure Park will hold its Grand Opening on Saturday, January 25, 10 a.m. The entertainment center is located at 6250 Commerce Palms Dr. in the Market Square at Tampa Palms shopping center anchored by BJ’s Wholesale Club.

Similar to openings at new Chick-Fil-As and Wawas, assistant general manager Chris Schade says the opening of the 28,000-sq.-ft. facility will be an “event.” At other Urban Air openings, he says people have camped overnight for a chance to be one of the 200 to win free access to the adventure center for a year. Schade says a DJ will be on hand the morning of the Grand Opening, and there also will be donuts and other goodies.

Urban Air Adventure Park is a Texas-based entertainment center franchise with locations all over the U.S.. The New Tampa location will be the company’s 10th in Florida, which includes centers in nearby Lakeland and Port Richey.

While broadly described by many as a “trampoline park,” Schade says the label really doesn’t do the new facility justice. 

While there will be trampolines for jumping, the Tampa Palms Urban Air Adventure Park also includes a timed warrior course, bumper cars, dedicated dodgeball courts, rock walls and a kids area for youngsters that includes a 25-foot spiral slide.

There are also two rides that require harnesses — a Sky Coaster that circles high above the guests, and a ropes course.

“We’re able to give the little kids their own little area, and still let the bigger kids do what they want to do,” Schade says.

The Adventure Park’s on-site café will offer pizza, chicken wings and tenders, as well as beer and wine, including local craft beer favorites.

“We really want to get rid of that stigma that we’re just a trampoline park,” Schade says. “We can cater to everyone from toddlers all the way up to companies doing team-building exercises.”

For additional information, visit UrbanAirNewTampa.com.

Wesley Chapel Business Happenings

CRYSTAL CLEAR SHOPPING?: According to preliminary plans filed with Pasco County, a grocery store, six retail stores and a fitness center are being planned for the area around the entrance to Epperson, home of the country’s first Crystal Lagoons® amenity.

Filed by Minneapolis-based commercial real estate developer Ryan Companies, the plans for the northwest corner of the Overpass Rd./Curley Rd. intersection don’t specifically name any tenants but show a large health/fitness center abutting the easternmost end of the Crystal Lagoon, with a medical/emergency building to the south.

Closest to Curley Rd. is a planned grocery store, with one large retail space and five others about half the size and 996 total parking spaces for the development.

Ryan Companies and Metro Development Group had a scheduled meeting with Pasco planners to discuss the commercial development on Dec. 10, 2019.

Metro Development is developing Epperson, which will have roughly 2,000 homes, as part of the Connected City project, which will be the nation’s first gigabit community. The community’s prime amenity is the 7.5-acre lagoon, the first of its kind constructed in the U.S., although the area just north of Wesley Chapel along I-75 is getting an even larger lagoon (scheduled to open this year) in Metro’s Mirada development.

MORE CARS, TOO: Representatives of the Morgan Auto Group are scheduled to meet with county planners on Jan. 27 as Morgan moves forward with plans to build a new BMW dealership on S.R. 56.

According to plans filed with the county, the seven-story, 133,000-sq.-ft. dealership will abut the west side of Morgan’s MINI of Wesley Chapel dealership on S.R. 56, just east of I-75.

BMW had previously filed paperwork with the county, and scheduled a pre-application meeting, in the hopes of building a 32,758-sq.-ft. showroom at S.R. 56 and Mansfield Blvd.

The BMW dealership would join other luxury dealers that have opened in Wesley Chapel in recent years, like Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Lexus. 

Plans are still working their way through permitting for a Volkswagen dealership right across S.R. 56 from MINI of Wesley Chapel. Those plans call for a 27,845-sq.-ft. dealership.

And, plans for a 21,232-sq.-ft. car dealership at the southwest corner of Eagleston Blvd. and Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in Seven Oaks — just east and across Eagleston Blvd. from Wesley Chapel Toyota and Lexus of Wesley Chapel — also is under review by the county.

Container Park Signs More, Submits Plans To Pasco

Developer Mark Gold isn’t exactly sure what made him settle on creating a one-of-a-kind shipping container park as part of his next big project.

He says he knew he wanted something green, and he wanted something small, and he wanted something unique.

“I wanted it to be different than everyone else,” he says.

It sure looks like that will be the case.

Conceptual plans for the park, which will officially be named Krate by Gold Box and be home to nearly 100 tenants running their businesses from modified shipping crates, were officially filed with Pasco County last month.

Krate is just one part, but perhaps the crown jewel, of The Grove project, which is transforming the old, worn-down retail center into a major Wesley Chapel hub. Mishorim-Gold Properties, a partnership between Gold and Mishorim Real Estate, bought the 200+ acres, including all of the existing structures in The Grove, for $62.7 million last year. 

Phase 1 of Krate will be built on nearly 7 acres of land just west of I-75 and east of The Grove’s big box retail stores like Best Buy and Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Krate plans to have 87 tenants (many using multiple crates), 172 parking spaces, and a stage for bands and competitions that will be flanked by a pavilion and a children’s playground.

But, the biggest selling point, says Gold, is the opportunity for local residents to open their own businesses. 

“We are building small spaces to give big opportunities to people,” Gold says. “We want this to be more mom and pop.”

He has 27 restaurants already with signed leases, although he says he is hoping for more service-based businesses. Most of the crates are already under contract and will start arriving in a few weeks.

He expects Krate will be up and running in 6-8 months.

“People are going to drive one hour, one-and-a-half hours to see this concept,” Gold says. “If I had built a shopping center, people would say ‘What is the big deal?’ But this is a shopping center built with containers with parking and lights and sidewalks and activity, lots of activity.”

While often compared to Sparkman Wharf at the Channelside Bay Plaza in downtown Tampa, Gold says he has visited the Tampa crate park and says “they do not compare.” He compared Sparkman Wharf to food trucks with no wheels where you eat outside, whereas Krate’s containers will be actual restaurants with many offering indoor and outdoor seating.

“This concept, I think, is the only one like it in the world,” Gold says.

At The Grove, where Gold is filling once empty buildings with fitness and yoga studios, a craft brewery, a dueling piano bar, Italian eateries and even an axe throwing bar while dubbing it “The Village,” variety is the spice of life, and he takes great pride in what Krate will offer.

Among his 27 restaurants are zero chains and places offering Cajun, Chinese, Colombian, Cuban, Dutch, French, Japanese, Italian, Puerto Rican, Thai and Vegan food, as well as other places serving cupcakes, ice cream, falafel, sandwiches, juices and even a mojito lab.

“People will drive here just for the variety,” Gold says.

He is so confident the concept is ready to take off, he says he already has plans to develop other Krate by Gold Box container concepts across the country. His second site, in Raleigh, NC., where he has two other developments, already has been picked out.  

Meanwhile, here in Wesley Chapel, Gold’s office, in the heart of The Grove property that he is confident will one day be considered downtown Wesley Chapel, is bustling. He moves from one meeting to another, exchanging info with daughter Keren, the property’s leasing representative. There seems to rarely be a time where a prospective tenant isn’t talking to one of them, or waiting their turn.

“I love it,” he says. “People want something else, something different, and we are going to give it to them.”