The opening of the new Lotte Plaza Market in the former location of a Sweetbay supermarket (next to Home Depot) has been one of the most hotly anticipated in New Tampa.
And, although we still have no official confirmation about when New Tampaâs Lotte Plaza Market is expected to open, my most recent visit to the construction site of the #1 chain of Asian and Korean supermarkets in Maryland and Virginia (with 14 total locations, including one each in New Jersey and Orlando) revealed that not only has a sign finally gone up on the building, but also that the interior renovations to the long-vacant 49,432-sq.-ft. building were actually nearing completion.
Every Lotte location features fresh (and unique) produce, meat and fish departments, as well as a food court serving a variety of cuisine types. On my most recent visit, I met one such food court tenant, who told me that the building had not yet had (or passed) all of its needed inspections before it could open, but that he was hoping our Lotte could open âby late September or October.â â GNÂ
Although the restaurantâs management is planning to expand the menu, the opening menu features chicken or mutton korma (cooked with yogurt, onions & spices), plus Pakistani versions of several Indian-style dishes, such as chicken tikka masala, butter chicken, chicken or mutton biryani, plus four different vegetarian dishes.
For more info, call (813) 405-8740 and tell them I sent you! -GN
The first Lotte Plaza Market in Rockville, MD. The upcoming location at the old Sweetbay Supermarket will look similar.
Lotte Plaza Market has filed plans with the City of Tampa to renovate the former Sweetbay Supermarket off Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., next to the Home Depot, as it prepares to open what will be New Tampaâs largest Asian marketplace.
The renovation project on the 49,432-sq.ft. building, roughly 11,000 square feet of which will be storage and cooler space, will transform the inside of the former grocery store into a marketplace that sells Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese food items and ingredients, a wide selection of meats and fresh fish and seafood and a huge variety of fruits and vegetables not found at American grocery stores.
The Lotte Plaza Market also will include at least three restaurants in its food court, as well as a bakery and a tea stand.
The renovations will cost roughly $4.5 million, according to the plans. The owners of the small Maryland-based ethnic grocery store chain focusing on Asian groceries and goods purchased the old Sweetbay Market for $7 million in January of 2021.
The Sweetbay building closed in 2013 and has been unoccupied since. KNK Tampa, Ltd. bought it in 2001 and leased it to Kash nâ Karry for a 20-year term beginning in November of that year. Kash nâ Karry operated under the lease until June 14, 2006, when its Belgian parent company Delhaize America, Inc., converted it into a Sweetbay. But, despite its rebranding, Sweetbay never gained the popularity of nearby Publix or Walmart stores.
In October of 2013, Jacksonville-based Bi-Lo Holdings bought 72 Sweetbay stores, plus the leases to 10 other underperforming Sweetbay locations that had already been closed. One of those leases belonged to the New Tampa location, which had six years remaining on it, but Bi-Lo Holdings declined to do anything with the property other than pay the rent until the deal expired in 2020.
Founded in 1976, Lotte Plaza Market is considered to be one of the premier Asian and international groceries in Maryland and Virginia, where it has 12 locations. The mini-chain also has one location in New Jersey, and opened the only other Florida location in Orlando on W. Colonial Dr. in February 2019.
Lotte Plaza Market is hoping to open 50 new locations by 2030. â JCC
Wesley Chapel and New Tampa have been on a great run of fun and interesting projects, and 2022 should be no different. Here are the five weâre most looking forward to this year.
1. KRATE Container Park
The long-awaited KRATE container park at The Grove at Wesley Chapel is expected to be fully open by summer 2022 â which is great news for local residents in the quickly expanding S.R 54 corridor looking for more shopping and dining options.
Photos by Charmaine George
There are so many cool things coming to Wesley Chapel this year, but KRATE ranks as No. 1, thanks to the unique nature of the project and the anticipation that has built up because it has taken much longer than many expected, due in no small part to a variety of Covid-related issues.
KRATE was the jewel of developer Mark Goldâs plans when his company, Mishorim Gold Properties, bought The Grove â then a moribund 250-acre parcel anchored by a shopping center â for $64 million in September 2019. Gold has invested an additional $20 million in the KRATE, which he claims will be the largest container park in the U.S. and something that will draw visitors from around the state to Wesley Chapel.
The seven-acre KRATE project will feature 55 businesses in converted shipping containers, each with their own product-centric mural painted on the side by artist Whitney Holbourn of Colorado.
At our press time, only two stores â Provisions Coffee & Kitchen and Shake-A-Salad â were already open. Once the others are ready, the KRATE is expected to cash in on what is likely to be a welcome experience in these Covid-ridden times â walking an open-air market featuring restaurants, retail shops and even a stage that will host concerts and other performances.
Its proximity to The Groveâs big box stores, and its popular restaurants like Treble Makers and the Falabella Family Bistro (see pg. 36), the Double Branch Artisanal Ales craft brewery, The Grove movie theater (and home of Side Splitters comedy club) and a new mini-golf course (see below) will make The Grove arguably the top entertainment destination hub in Pasco County, if not all of Tampa Bay.
2. New Tampa PAC
If we didnât like shopping and desserts so much, this would be our No. 1.
Regardless, the New Tampa Performing Arts Center (NTPAC; photo, left) will provide a cultural boost to the area with its promise of music, dance and theatrical performances. The area already has an acting troupe, the New Tampa Players (NTP), that will call the PAC home and be one of what we hope are hundreds of groups to bring productions to the 350-seat theater.
When was the last time you had to get dressed up to attend anything in New Tampa proper?
Our only gripe â it would have been nice to see the NTPAC fronting Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in all its glory, lit up at night as drivers-by gawked, as opposed to being tucked out of view between an apartment complex and a grocery store.
But, after a nearly 20-year battle to get the place built, whoâs complaining?
3. Lotte Market
This, very quietly, might be the coolest thing to open anywhere in 2022, because if you know, you know.
While we havenât had any updates in a while on the plans for the new market, and no official announcement at all, weâre guessing Lotte Market will fill the 55,000-sq.ft. former Sweetbay Market with hard-to-find Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese food items, as well what is likely to be the largest selection of fresh â and, dare we say, unique â seafood, fruits and vegetables in the area.
The only other Lotte Market in Florida is located in Orlando, and that store, like most of its others located in Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia, have a handful of Asian restaurants or a food court. Lotte has already been approved by the city to put restaurants in the market, and we canât wait to see which ones they will be.
4. Mini-Golf
The groundbreaking of PopStroke Entertainment was held on Feb. 2
Remember a few years ago, when the major complaint about the area was that there was nothing to do? Well, since 2016, weâve added an Urban Air Adventure Park in Tampa Palms, and in Wesley Chapel we now have the Advent Health Center Ice facility, the Wiregrass Ranch Sports Campus of Pasco County, an indoor recreation center and outdoor roller hockey rink at the Wesley Chapel District Park and the Main Event bowling alley and game center on S.R. 56.
As if thatâs not enough, in 2022, Tiger Woods PopStroke Entertainment, a mini-golf and restaurant concept the golf superstar owns with entrepreneur Greg Bartoli, is coming to Wesley Chapelâs Cypress Creek Town Center on the north side of S.R. 56.
The project officially broke ground on Feb. 2 and should be ready by the beginning of summer, if not sooner.
Builders describe the place as an âexperiential golf and casual dining concept merging a dynamic, technologically advanced competitive golf environment with food and beverages.â
Sign us up!
And while weâre at it, please also reserve us a spot at the new Grove Mini-Golf, which is expected to open in March. While PopStroke skips all the bells and whistles associated with a traditional mini-golf course, Grove Mini-Golf is leaning into them with plenty of holes requiring tricky shots â one hole you shoot over a river, another into a river (youâll see), and thereâs even a figure-8 hole and lots of hills and rocks to accentuate a rich, tropical oasis experience.
And, nighttime neon lighting and fire will give it a fun, festive feel. All of the holes will be illuminated with neon lights and glow-in-the-dark flags and balls. Very cool!
5. Diverging Diamond Interchange
If navigating castles, rocks and water on a mini-golf course doesnât get you excited, how about navigating the soon-to-be-completed (no, weâre not kidding) Diverging Diamond Interchange at the S.R. 56 and I-75 intersection?
Weâre not sure if it will be easier figuring out the DDI or, say, shooting par, but the folks building it promise the new intersection is less confusing than it looks.
That would be great for those who want to venture out to that area but donât because, well, ugh…that traffic. But, the DDI is supposed to eliminate all those conflict points and make for a safer interchange, using free flowing lanes â sometimes taking you to the other side of the road (relax, itâll be fun!).
Just to be safe, though, weâd suggest hitting up YouTube to watch a few videos.
And…While these are our top 5, they arenât the only cool things happening in our area in 2022, like the completion of the S.R. 54 widening project, Wesley Chapelâs second lagoon at Mirada âwhich, at 15 acres, is twice as large as the one in Epperson â new restaurants like The Living Room, and we might even see a few surprises. (Weâre looking at you, empty Best Buy building on BBD).
The Lotte Plaza Market coming to New Tampa could look a lot like the one above, which is located Rockville, MD.
We told you back in February that the long dormant Sweetbay Supermarket property, after eight years of being empty, was finally sold to the folks who run the popular Lotte Plaza Market Asian grocery stores, and the new owners have officially begun the permitting process.
According to City of Tampa permitting records, Emerald Coast Permitting in Santa Rosa Beach, FL, applied for a zoning review in order to receive approval for a grocery store with a limited food court, which city planners deemed to be acceptable.
Next up will be a construction permit prior to work beginning to overhaul the old Sweetbay into New Tampaâs largest ethnic grocery store.
The Lotte Market will be approximately 55,000 square feet. Taaza Mart, which opened last year, is 17,000 feet.
Founded in 1976, Lotte Plaza Market is one of the premier Asian groceries in Maryland and Virginia, where it has 12 locations. It opened its first Florida location in Orlando on W. Colonial Dr. in February 2019. New Tampa will be its second Florida location.
All Lotte Plaza Markets offer a wide choice of Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese food items and ingredients, an impressive selection of meats and fresh fish and a huge variety of fruits and vegetables typically not found at your regular American grocery stores.
Although there arenât yet any detailed plans available, the Orlando store, as an example, also has a hair salon, bakery and a food court that are all draws themselves, featuring restaurants like Seoul Soon Tofu, Joen Korean, Izziban Katsu, Pho 54 and Taglish, a Filipino-American concept.
This store is located in Rockville, MD, and is the first Lotte Plaza Market. The small chain is now expanding into Florida with an Orlando store, and likely a second location in New Tampa
The long dormant Sweetbay Supermarket property, which has been empty since 2013, has a new owner.
And, it appears that New Tampa may soon be home to a new Lotte Plaza Mart, a small-chain Maryland-based ethnic grocery store focusing on Asian groceries and goods.
John Neukamm, the attorney for the sellers, KNK Tampa, Ltd., confirmed that the sale was completed on Feb. 1, but would not say what the plans were for the site.
He said a âdifferent type of conceptâ was likely heading to the space, one that has not been seen locally.
Neukamm said that he had spoken with the North Palms Village Master Association and that they were âvery excitedâ that the sale of the former Sweetbay had been completed.
According to city records, the property, located right across Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd. from the AMC movie theater and next to Home Depot, was purchased by SW Tampa, LLC, for $7-million.
According to Sunbiz.org, the Florida Division of Corporationsâ online directory of companies in Florida, the owner of SW Tampa, LLC is Sang Min Lee, who also owns Sungwon Orlando, LLC.
Lotte Plaza Market in Orlando. (lotteplaza.com)
The only other Lotte Plaza Mart in Florida is located in Orlando.
Both SW Tampa, LLC (the SW is likely short for Sungwon), and Sungwon Orlando, LLC are registered at the same address in Jessup, MD, as Sungwon Distributors, LLC, which serves as the headquarters of Lotte Plaza Mart.
Marc Bergoffen, the lawyer representing SW Tampa, did not respond to messages. Ross Waters of Atlantic Retail, one of the brokers involved in the sale, declined comment.
If a new Lotte Plaza Mart does materialize at the old Sweetbay site, it will be the second large ethnic grocery store to open in New Tampa since 2019, joining Taaza Mart, a roughly 17,000-sq.-ft., predominantly Indian grocer located in Tampa Palms.
The potential Lotte Plaza Mart location would be more than three times as large as Taaza Mart â at roughly 55,000 square feet.
Founded in 1976, Lotte Plaza Mart is considered to be one of the premier Asian groceries in Maryland and Virginia, where it has 12 locations. The mini-chain also has one location in New Jersey, and opened the Orlando location on W. Colonial Dr. in February 2019.
Like all Lotte Plaza Marts, the location in Orlando â which moved into a 60,000-sq.-ft. space formerly occupied by a Winn-Dixie â has a wide choice of Korean, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese food items and ingredients, an impressive selection of meats and fresh fish and a huge variety of fruits and vegetables not found at your regular American grocery stores.
The store has received online praise for its variety and prices.
Although there are no exact plans available for what a New Tampa location might feature, the Orlando store also has a hair salon, bakery and food court, featuring a handful of Asian restaurants, including Taglish, a Filipino-American concept run by Chef Michael Collantes, who has worked with such notable chefs as Wolfgang Puck.
The nearest location for buying Asian groceries currently is the MD Oriental Market located on E. Fowler Ave., or the A-Green Oriental Market on E. Fletcher, both in the USF area.
If S.R. 56 is now the Restaurant Row of the New Tampa and Wesley Chapel areas, the BBD corridor from Cross Creek Blvd. to Tampa Palms Blvd. might be its supermarket counterpart.
Sprouts Farmers Market, which opened last year, and Aldi, which is under construction and will likely open sometime this year, are within walking distance from the potential Lotte Plaza Mart location, and just south of the I-75 interchange, Taaza is located in Market Square at Tampa Palms.
That stretch of stores is bookended by Publix Super Markets in the City Plaza at Tampa Palms and at the New Tampa Center, giving shoppers of all ethnicities five supermarkets within five miles.
