Category: Business

Church Sold; Will Become AdventHealth Care Pavilion

The LifePoint Church building located on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. in front of Hunter’s Green, has been sold to Advent Health, which intends to renovate it into a “care pavilion.”

AdventHealth paid $7.4 million for the 5.84-acre property and reportedly will spend $8.44 million more to renovate it, and plans to include exam rooms and imaging capabilities such as MRIs, X-rays and CT scans.

“We are still working to determine which care services will best fit the needs of the community,” says Richelle Hoenes-Ahearn, a spokesperson for AdventHealth. “We are excited about the opportunity to bring this kind of facility to the area and make it more convenient and accessible for people to prioritize health and wellness.”

Tampa City Council member Luis Viera, who represents District 7, which includes New Tampa, says he is working with AdventHealth to be sure the facility meets the needs of the New Tampa community.

He plans to have a meeting with AdventHealth in November to allow neighborhood leaders to ask any questions they may have about the project.

“This is a facility with a lot of potential benefits to the New Tampa area,” he says. “Dialogue is key.”

Meanwhile, LifePoint Church has moved its services to Wesley Chapel and also changed its name to The Gathering Church.

Executive pastor Brian Brown says the sale of the building is not related to the effects of Covid-19. In fact, he says, discussions with AdventHealth started well before the pandemic hit, when the hospital system approached the church with an offer.

Brian says the church had previously been approached by other suitors looking to purchase the building, but the offer from AdventHealth was, “the right price at the right time.”

The sale closed in mid-September, which was at the end of at least nine or ten months of discussion and work towards that goal, says Brian. He added that the lengthy process AdventHealth had to go through for permitting and rezoning was somewhat delayed because parts of the government had been shut down due the pandemic.

LifePoint originally purchased the building in 2006, when it was a vacant former Winn-Dixie supermarket and the church was meeting at the New Tampa Family YMCA. LifePoint opened its doors at the building in 2007.

“It was great for us,” says Brian, “but we’ve had a change in focus as a ministry.”

Brad White is the senior pastor for the church, which at one time had multiple campuses in Hillsborough and Pasco counties. Now, the church is exclusively in Wesley Chapel, meeting at Wiregrass Ranch High on Mansfield Blvd. on Sundays at 9 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and noon.

“We have now focused all of our attention on the Wesley Chapel area,” says Brian. “That’s where all the growth is going.”

He says the church did a demographic study of its database and found that the majority of its congregation was coming from Wesley Chapel anyway, so the decision was made to move into the area where its people are living.

While the church may purchase another building in the future, for now, that’s not its priority.

“Our focus is just to love people and to help them begin a relationship with God,” says Brian, adding that buildings that are only used once a week cost a lot of money to maintain. “Now, dollars that were being spent on a facility are being used to facilitate relationships. We’re excited. It’s a great location for AdventHealth, so it’s a win-win for everybody.”

AdventHealth Church

Treble Makers — Delicious Food & Super-Fun Entertainment!

It was less than a year ago when Jannah and I visited Gainesville for her work and happened upon a non-chain dueling piano bar/restaurant called The Keys. We had already eaten dinner, but hung around for the entire dueling piano show on a weekend night and we both looked at each other and said, “Why can’t we have something like this in Wesley Chapel?” multiple times.

A few months later, Wesley Chapel resident Jamie Hess had a meeting with The Grove developer Mark Gold and discussed the possibility of bringing a non-chain restaurant/bar with live entertainment to Wesley Chapel and, a week or so after that, Jamie and his wife Sandy, Lee Bevan and Jamie’s brother Joe and his wife Niki became partners in a then-unnamed, unbuilt new restaurant and lounge.

A few weeks later, the five partners realized they had stumbled onto the right thing at the right time when more than 1,800 different people (most, but not all of whom were residents of Wesley Chapel) suggested names on the Wesley Chapel Community Facebook page for their new place and, not long after that, Treble Makers became an actual thing. And, not even the start of the Covid-19 pandemic could dampen the enthusiasm of either the partners or the local community for the first real sit-down, non-chain American restaurant to open in Wesley Chapel since Dempsey’s Steak House at Saddlebrook Resort.

And, guess what? Treble Makers is, in my humble opinion, the best restaurant of any kind to open here since Dempsey’s, too.

While Jannah and I were so psyched to be getting our wish of having piano bar entertainment three miles from where we live fulfilled, we are both even more excited today about Treble Makers’ delicious food. And, best of all for these partners, we’re not the only ones.

Start Me Up!

Executive Chef Kevin Maggard interviewed for the job at Treble Makers by creating a seven-course meal of his take on many of the items Bevan and the Hesses said they wanted on their menu at Joe and Sandy’s Wesley Chapel home.

Kevin, who was trained at The Art Institute (AI) of Tampa, but has been a sous chef for multiple restaurants and catering companies in the Tampa Bay area, said that although he was fine with many of their choices, he called the menu “a little boring.”

When he asked if he could get a little adventurous with their concept, he was told to go ahead and run with it.

The result? Kevin and his fellow AI grad and head sous chef Jason Rosenberg came up with a number of unique menu items.

For starters, while my long-time readers know how much I love seared tuna, they’ve rarely ever heard me brag about calamari being one of my favorites. But, at Treble Makers, while the sesame-crusted ahi tuna (on a bed of homemade Asian-style slaw) is as good or better than what you pay more for at Bonefish, Kevin’s calamari is extra crispy and in a perfectly balanced sweet-spicy sauce that can only be compared with Ocean Prime’s in Tampa. So good.

Then, throw in his top-seller, the Imperial crab dip, homemade potato gnocchi in a smoky Alfredo sauce topped with a homemade cheese crisp, Buffalo shrimp and unique wings and, well, you get the idea.

So, What Else Is On The Menu?

Jamie says that although Treble Makers doesn’t yet have a separate lunch menu, the full dinner menu is available for every day for lunch. It includes such midday-friendly items as blue crab bisque, French onion soup, house, Caesar and wedge salads, plus a brisket/chuck blend burger, grilled or blackened chicken sandwich and steak, fish or shrimp “Treble Street Tacos” — none of which are pictured here but only because Treble Makers has only been open a few weeks as I’m writing this and I’ve been so enamored with so many of the dinner entrées.

But, rest assured, I will eventually be dining in or taking out lunch from Treble Makers a lot in the months to come. There’s even a make-your-own pasta option with your choice of five sauces that I will try.

For dinner, you can’t go wrong with a thick 6- or 8-oz. filet mignon, 12-oz. NY strip or boneless 12- or 16-oz. prime ribeye, all $23-$32, and served with two sides (the fresh broccoli is perfect, and photographer Charmaine George says the garlic mashed potatoes were outstanding; people also raved about the Brussels sprouts). I say they don’t need the $3 per add-on toppings like port demi, gorgonzola or lemon garlic butter because the steaks themselves are all tender, tasty and done to perfection — but they’re available.

Mine and Jannah’s surprise favorite so far has been the coconut curry black grouper — a surprise because we both thought we didn’t like anything curry-flavored. So wrong. The huge filet of absolutely fresh grouper shown here sits on a bed of basmati rice and keeps the curry flavor from overpowering the dish with a hint of sweetness, and you will get fish, sauce and rice in every delicious bite. Yum.

Another excellent sweet-&-spicy combo that North Tampa Bay Chamber president Hope Kennedy and her friend Matt let me have a bite of were the diver scallops in sweet corn sauce garnished with jalapeños.

Other great dinner entrées include Polynesian chicken breast, pan-seared chicken or veal Marsala (Charmaine said her veal, in the photo above, was “just so tender”; it’s also available with a port demi sauce), chicken or eggplant parm, salmon and a totally unique seared rare yellowfin tuna in thick “slabs” with green goddess sauce and a scallion medley that’s so much better than it even sounds, if you’re a tuna fan like I am.

Save room for dessert, too, as we have sampled the three currently on the menu — Key lime pie, NY-style cheesecake with homemade whipped cream and a super-rich triple chocolate cake.

In a word? Decadent.

What About The Music?

I’m glad you asked. Every Fri. and Sat. night, the dueling piano shows — which are 9 p.m.-midnight and are a separate cost of $12 per person (adults only) — feature different talented pianists who really know how to get the crowd going. They take requests — and tips help move your request up on the list — and Jamie delivers on his promise that every reservation gets you a socially distant table for four in the main dining area with great views of the action.

Speaking of Covid, Hess says Treble Makers, like every tenant at The Grove, has UV light sterilizers to disinfect the air and also disinfects every table as it is cleared.

I told him I’d like to see the ultra-premium, full-liquor bar area, with honestly very fair drink prices, open to half-capacity “general admission” seating for the shows, but, he says, they have no such plans. However, they do plan to add trivia and karaoke and have already added Bike Night on Wed. nights and live acoustic music on Thur. nights.

Treble Makers is open for lunch and dinner every day, 11 a.m.-10 p.m., and is open until 1 a.m. on Fri. & Sat. nights. For more info, including dinner and show reservations, visit TrebleMakersofWC.com, call (813) 406-4371.

Nibbles: Restaurant Blitz!

The months of Oct. & Nov. will be among the busiest times yet for new restaurants in the Wesley Chapel area.

Here are some of the highlights:

Florida Avenue Brewing Co. (2029 Arrowgrass Dr.) — With its opening as we went to press, I think our readers will be really excited about Florida Ave., which has a great menu and lots of room for social distancing (even at the spacious indoor and outdoor bars), in the former location of Sports + Field off S.R. 56.

Florida Ave., which has its original location in Seminole Heights, isn’t yet brewing its awesome variety of microbrews at its new location — its original Florida Ave. location will still provide the beer — but it has a full-liquor bar, video games for the kids and delicious, food items, including both standard bar fare and unique options like the Chinese-style sticky ribs shown above (photo by Charmaine George), bibimbap bowls, crispy cauliflower tacos and many more. Please tell the Derby family I sent you!

Rock & Brews (26000 S.R. 56, Lutz) — Our Rock & Brews will be the 18th link in this chain of rock-themed restaurants owned in part (and inspired) by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of the rock band Kiss. In order to preview Rock & Brews in this issue,

I visited the aptly-named “Kiss”-immee location, and I definitely came away impressed with the look of the place (with images of rock icons from Kiss to Prince and from Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen adorning the walls) to the food, including the blackened redfish shown above (which comes with a Louisiana-style crawfish cream sauce that I couldn’t eat because of my shellfish allergy) to a semi-spicy bruschetta. Rock & Brews (visit RockandBrews.com) should open by mid-October.

Bonefish Grill (Sierra Center Blvd., Lutz) — Although Wesley Chapel has had a Bonefish Grill for years, that location on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. is expected to close when the new Bonefish opens next to Aussie Grill — which could be in October as well. Although we weren’t able to get an opening date from parent company Bloomin’ Brands, there is a “Now Hiring” sign at the new location.

Zukku-San Sushi Bar & Grill & Crumbl Cookies (25916 & 25922 Sierra Center Blvd., Lutz) — Of these two new options, located in the same building as the Woof Gang Bakery and the new Charles Schwab office (east of Bahama Breeze on the north side of S.R. 56), Zukku-San looks closer to opening, although both places have “Now Hiring” signs out in front. The guess here is that neither will open much before the end of October. For more info, visit ZukkuSushi.com or CrumblCookies.com.

Moschella’s Italian Eatery & Market (5648 Post Oak Blvd.) — Owner Billy Moschella says Moschella’s should be open by the end of October and will feature a deli, pizza, fresh pastas, a butcher shop, hot prepared foods and much more. He’s also hiring cooks, pizza makers, deli workers and cashiers. To apply or for more info, visit Moschellas.com.

Chuck Lager America’s Tavern (2001 Piazza Ave., Suite 175) — So, according to the restaurant’s website, Chuck Lager is a worldwide archeological adventurer who decided to venture into opening made-from-scratch restaurants that exemplify his love of great cuisine. Lager met “Top Chef” fan favorite Fabio Viviani in Viviani’s grandmother’s Italian kitchen and a concept was born.

With locations in Pike Creek, DE, and Barrington, NJ, the Lager team came to “The Chap” to take over the never-good-enough former Primebar location at the Shops at Wiregrass. It doesn’t look like it will make it to an October opening, but hopefully, we’ll see this tomato bacon grilled cheese with tomato bisque (above), homemade meatballs and chicken parm sooner than later. (Visit ChuckLager.com.)

Chuck Lager Florida Avenue Brewing food restaurants Rock & Brews

Business Is Pretty Cool At Total Air Solutions

Total Air Solutions has been serving not only the Tampa Bay area, but areas up and down the Gulf Coast, for the last 19 years. But, over that time, Total Air has mostly dedicated its business to commercial properties — from offices to medical clinics and more.

It was only about two years ago that Total Air started servicing residential customers and co-owner and co-founder Bill Albert knows that’s one reason why there are those in our area who may not be familiar with his company.

“We’ve been in Tampa a lot longer than people realize,” Albert said. “We hire local techs and we’re continuing to grow and very interested in growing in the Lutz, New Tampa and Wesley Chapel areas.”

While Total Air Solutions has made strides in its quest to become the go-to service provider for air conditioning in our area, Albert points out that the recent “new normal” brought on by the novel coronavirus and subsequent quarantining from the pandemic — such as working from home and virtual schooling — has led to a very large uptick in the residential air conditioning business.

“Everyone is in their houses now,” Albert says. “It was fine when you left your house at seven in the morning (and could turn the air down). But now that you’re there 24/7… everyone needs the service much more because the air is always running. And, it’s Florida. So it’s been a banner year for our residential side.”

On The Grow From Day One

Albert figures that Total Air, which he started in his garage with fellow co-owner/co-founder Frank Decarlo, has nearly doubled in size in less than a year.

“To put it frankly, it’s going like gangbusters because everyone is staying home and they’re concerned about their air conditioning,” he says. “Our commercial side slowed down a bit, especially in April and May, but we’re seeing that pick back up, too, as offices are reopening.”

Albert worked for six years as an HVAC distributor for Carrier Florida, first in Tampa and then in Orlando, and prior to that, he held positions in a solar hot water heating and installation company and a home energy design system firm.

Decarlo previously was the VP/general manager at a heating and cooling company in North Port for seven years, where he was initially hired as a service manager and grew that company’s annual sales fourfold. Prior to that, he was a service technician at an air conditioning firm in New York.

Now, 19 years later and having combined their efforts, Total Air Solutions has offices in Tampa and North Port and 92 employees.

“There are a lot of air conditioning companies out there, but there are very few qualified technicians,” Albert says. “We’re also Carrier-certified and (have won Carrier’s) President’s Award three years in a row, but we can also fix any brand because when you call us, we send you service technicians, not salesmen. There’s an industry term for that — an SID, or “salesman in disguise” — but that’s not what you get from Total Air. We’re not going to sell you things you don’t need. We try to find the total air solution for our customers.”

Like any business, Albert adds, Covid-19 has affected the way Total Air Solutions meets its customers’ needs. The offices were initially shut down and the employees were working remotely. And then, the technicians would go out to calls and drive separate vehicles.

And, Albert says, Total Air is adhering to every guideline put out by the U.S. Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).

“While we’ve been very lucky that we’ve been touched very sparingly with our employees and personally with this disease,” Albert says, “we are still taking every precaution provided by the CDC. (We use) masks, gloves, sanitizer, booties, covering the (cost of) testing for our employees — we’re just doing the best we can, like everyone else.”

Hurricane Season Mode

Albert adds that Total Air also is handling the “new normal” of visiting customers’ homes well, but also is in full hurricane season mode at our press time, knowing that any storm that hits the area could require a lot more service requests.

“We’re very conscious of hurricane season because we know there can be damage or people can be without air conditioning,” Albert says. “We want to help them get it back up and running as quickly as possible.”

And, Total Air does that very well and efficiently. It’s one of the reasons they been able to keep customers from the very start.

“I’ve been a customer with Total Air Solutions for about three years,” says Carroll Grant of New Tampa. “It all started when my air conditioner went out in the middle of the night. They were here at 7 o’clock in the morning to install the new unit with no hassle at all, and I’ve been happy ever since.”

Grant is aware that, as a Floridian, having a working air conditioning system isn’t a luxury.

“Living here in Florida, having reliable air conditioning service is not just a request or a hope, it’s an absolute necessity,” he says. “So, my suggestion would be to anyone who needs air conditioning solutions, give Total Air a call. I would very much recommend them to friends and family, and I have.”

Especially since Total Air is now offering three inspection for the price of two, a package which costs just $149.The special is only for new customers, who need to mention that they read about it in the Neighborhood News before the service is started.

Albert says this special offer is one of his favorites because he knows it offers a great value to his customers, especially if they are using Total Air Solutions for the first time.

He says the maintenance of an air conditioning system, even a new unit, is vital to keeping your house cool.

“Just because it’s running doesn’t mean it’s perfect,” Albert says. “I ask (customers), ‘Don’t you change the oil in your car?’ So, you get the maintenance right there, and then you have another maintenance for the next year. It’s a great deal.”

And of course, Total Air Solutions also provides residential and commercial heating services, including installing heat pumps, and offers indoor air quality and filtration solutions (more in demand these days, due to Covid-19), as well as duct work services, and you can even finance your new Carrier AC.

Total Air Solutions’ Tampa office is at 1015 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. For more info, visit TotalAirFl.com or call (813) 247-2665.

air conditioning business HVAC

COMEDY GOLD!

There’s already a taproom, dueling piano bar and mini-golf, and a unique movie theater and a container park are on the way to The Grove. But, if you think developer Mark Gold of Mishorim Gold is done, it looks like the joke might be on you!

Two guys walk into a bar.

One guy says, “Hey, how would you like to bring your comedy club to The Grove theater in Wesley Chapel?”

The other guy says, “Hey yeah, that sounds like a great idea. Let’s do it!”

Okay, so that’s not much of a joke — we’ll leave that to the pros, who will be headed to Wesley Chapel in a few months, when the renowned Side Splitters Comedy Club opens a its second location in The Grove on S.R. 54.

Developer Mark Gold, who is redeveloping The Grove into an entertainment space unrivaled in the area, says he has forged a deal with Brian Thompson, the owner of Side Splitters in Carrollwood, to bring a full-fledged stand-up comedy club to the area before the end of 2020.

As part of the former Cobb theater’s dramatic makeover — which already is set to include a huge video game area, a high-tech spin room, theaters that cater to kids and moviegoers and two new restaurants — Side Splitters Comedy Club will take over one of the theaters for its stand-up shows.

“We have gotten a ton of requests to get another location and Wesley Chapel is one of the areas with the most requests,” says Thompson. “We know it’s a growing area and, when the opportunity came up to get in there, we took it. We see it as a win-win for both of us.”

And, for the record, Gold and Thompson didn’t forge the deal at a bar. Instead, Thompson, who says he has been unofficially scouting the Wesley Chapel area for years, came across a 3-D video online showing the new things happening at The Grove and inquired about any vacancies.

He was told one unit was available, but it was smaller than what he was looking for, so he declined.

However, five minutes later, after Gold found out a comedy club had called — just what he had been looking for — the developer arranged to meet with Thompson that same day.

“He said he was one of the top comedy clubs in the U.S.,” Gold says. “I had a theater available in what will be an entertainment complex. It’s perfect. It’s a good fit.”

*April Macie has performed at Side Splitters Comedy Club, as well as on Netflix.*

While the original Side Splitters is a 5,500-sq.-ft. location and seats 250 patrons at tables and chairs below the stage, the comedy theater at The Grove will seat roughly 170 above the stage, with food and drink service.

“It will be a little different, but it will be the same intimate feel of Side Splitters that people dig,” says Thompson met with Gold’s management company this past week to hammer out the details.

Thompson, who was the general manager at Side Splitters since 2007 before buying the club in 2019, says it draws 70,000-80,000 people a year while mostly holding shows Thursdays through Sundays. That built-in audience is likely to translate nicely to the Wesley Chapel location, which also happens to be the home of some of Side Splitters’ more popular comics, like Rahn Hortman and JB Ball.

Side Splitters Carrollwood has hosted a number of nationally-known comics, and Thompson says some of those big names also will come to Wesley Chapel.

“We’ll definitely get comedians with some strong TV credits — some late night appearances, “America’s Got Talent,” “Last Comic Standing” — people like that,” Thompson says.

Open mic nights also are popular at the club and will carry over to The Grove.

“It’s a nice partnership,” Thompson says. “Mark’s vision is having a one-stop shop, where people can walk around, grab dinner, play a round of golf and see a comedy show, without having to get in their cars to drive to each place. We’re very very excited to be part of that.”

comedy comedy club grove mark gold netflix side splitters