A potential water park at The Grove in Wesley Chapel would be similar to something like Splash Harbour Water Park in Indian Rocks Beach..
Jamie Hess hadn’t even opened his dueling piano bar, Treble Makers, before he was on to the next thing.
A water park for The Grove?
“I get bored easily,” Hess jokes.
According to Hess, he was having a conversation with Gold only about a month back when the developer asked what he thought about the idea of a water park, which could be built on 1.8 acres next to the Chuck E. Cheese’s.
I thought it was absolutely brilliant,” Hess said, who went ahead and jumped in as the point man on the project. He signed a letter of intent that day.
Hess says it wasn’t hard to convince him. After all, he was the first person to sign a lease with Gold. (Note – Double Branch Artisanal Ales had actually signed with the previous owners shortly before Gold bought the property.)
“I think his vision for this area is great,” Hess says. “I wanted to be a part of it right from the beginning.”
The water park will not be sprawling like Tampa’s Adventure Island, but will be family-oriented, says Gold, and small enough where parents will have no trouble keeping an eye on their kids.
Hess says he envisions the park as something similar to Splash Harbour Water Park in Indian Rocks Beach, but larger — Splash Harbour is on roughly 1.3 acres, compared to the 1.8 acres planned for The Grove’s water park.
The Grove park will have a lazy river and a variety of slides and splash zones. It won’t need a mini-golf course like Splash Harbour, because Gold is building a standalone course as part of his theater complex.
The water park will have season passes, as well as one-day and four-hour passes. Although it is still very early in development, a one-day pass might cost $25, with a four-hour pass running $16. Season passes will be “very very reasonable” according to Hess.
He adds that he is in the feasibility phase and, once that is determined, the design phase begins, followed by permitting.
Within a year, Hess says, the park could be ready and he has already shown the county pictures of what he has planned and, “they were enthusiastic.”
With the world having gone completely crazy over Covid-19, the Rotary Club of New Tampa Noon rightfully decided to postpone this year’s New Tampa BrewFest (which was seriously packed last year; photo, top right).
Recognizing that the original August date was too soon to host even a socially-distanced event, BrewFest chair Jeff Ulbrich said the Rotary Club decided to postpone the 2020 BrewFest until Saturday, November 7, beginning at 6 p.m., again at the Venetian Events Center on Cross Creek Blvd.
Attendees can again expect a huge variety (90 or more!) of craft, micro and other brews (from 30 top local breweries), including ciders and “hard” seltzers, plus top-notch wines and deliciously “legit” food trucks.
Look for additional updates in these pages and go ahead and pre-buy your tickets now at NewTampaNoonRotaryClub.eventbrite.com.
Saying Goodbye To Pier 1
I have never been the biggest fan of Pier 1 Imports in either of its New Tampa locations — I felt it was always just a little too pricey for the quality of the merchandise — but I am never happy to see another major anchor store close, and the Pier 1 located at 18047 Highwoods Preserve Pkwy. in The Walk at Highwoods Preserve plaza on BBD was clearing out its inventory in preparation for the local store’s closing, as part of the Ft. Worth, TX-based chain’s shuttering of between 400-450 of its 1,000 or so locations nationwide.
But, this store appears to be in no hurry to close. The 20%-50%-off promise on every sign inside (photo, far right) still only brings Pier 1’s prices down to almost as low as the regular prices at Target or even At Home. I’m guessing that until the discounts hit 50%-70% off, there will still be plenty of inventory to keep it open.
Coming To The Grove In WC!
Here are some of the new eateries and businesses that are either open now, are opening soon or are under construction in The Village at The Grove at Wesley Chapel:
• Double Branch Artisanal Ales (now open, but currently to-go only)
• F45 Training (open)
• Jillian Joseph Photography (open)
• Roman Group Realty
• Treble Makers Dueling Piano Bar
• Lagoon Realty
• The Dessert Box
• Brooklyn Bagel Co. (frontage on S.R. 54)
• King of the Coop (fried chicken; located next to Brooklyn Bagel on 54)
• Falabella Family Bistro
• The Kilted Axe
• Pizza Worx NY pizza
• Pasco EDC Business Incubator
• Japanese Restaurant (unnamed; replaces Casa Cubana, which will open a different eatery in the under-construction Krate container park at The Grove).
For The Grove leasing info, email Keren@mgoldgroup.com; for event info, email matheus@mgoldgroup.com! — GN
When CMX, the parent company of Cobb Theatres and CineBistro, filed for bankruptcy in April, citing the damage done by the coronavirus, it officially brought to an end Wesley Chapel’s popular movie theater in The Grove.
It also, however, has ushered in a new opportunity.
Developer Mark Gold, whose Mishorim Gold Properties owns The Grove, is remaking the popular 85,000-sq.-ft. movie theater into something that he says will be bigger and better.
“I am bringing something for the whole family,” he says. And, don’t worry, he adds, the new project will still be a movie theater, it’ll just be, “unlike any you have seen before.”
To name a few of the major changes: Instead of 16 movie screens (and roughly 3,000 seats), there will be 12 screens, with at least one or two dedicated to children. The additional space freed up by consolidating the screens will be used to create a video game area that Gold says will resemble the popular arcade and restaurant/bar Dave & Buster’s. There will be a sushi restaurant upstairs and one with more traditional American/theater food options below.
Outside, new landscaping and a mini-golf course will create an area for people to gather and make a night of it.
Gold says the entire facility will be redesigned, reimagined and most important, rejuvenated, and that there already are plans for an adjoining housing development featuring 540 townhomes and apartments.
“This is going to be an entertainment complex like no other,” says Tom Peck, the director of operations for The Grove Theater (working title).
The large arcade area — which, in most theaters, is just a small room set off to the side with a dozen or so games set up — will replace the current lobby, with games designed for teens and adults in one area, and games for younger players in another.
At least one or two of the movie theaters will be modified to serve as a “kids zone,” with things like bean bag chairs and sofas for those watching the movie and a play area for those who’d rather climb through tubes and tunnels. The kids theater will be ideal, Gold says, for parents looking to watch a movie or enjoy dinner while their children watch something more suitable for their age.
Gold says he also is considering converting one theater into a ninja-style obstacle course for younger kids.
Before….…and after.
The other movie theaters will carry the latest Hollywood releases and will be fitted with newer, and more comfortable, leather reclining chairs. There will be VIP theaters, will full-fledged dining options like the old CineBistro model. “The name won’t be there,” Peck says, “but the same concept will continue.”
You Still Have To Feel Safe
Gold says he is most pleased, however, with his plans to ensure safety. In an era where the Covid-19 pandemic has changed everything about the way the world does business, Gold promises that with each movie ticket, gaming pass and meal purchased, customers also will receive the one thing that will best allow them to enjoy the experience — peace of mind.
State-of-the-art cleaning equipment will be employed to keep the theater virus-free. There will be hospital-grade fog machines and ultraviolet lights to disinfect walls, floors, handles, seats and the air in between each movie, and temperature monitors at the front door that will keep those showing coronavirus symptoms from entering.
Social distancing will be implemented, as will face masks, depending on the state of the virus when the theater opens.
“Our theater will be extremely safe,” Peck says. “It will have things in there no other company has ever been able to do because of the (costs associated with the) large number of theaters they control.”
And, if you wonder what happens when (or if) Covid-19 finally passes, Gold says he is still playing the long game with his safety measures, because there will still be plenty of other germs out there and families will be looking to stay safer than ever in the future.
“Everyone is going to want to feel safer, more secure,” Gold says. “Even 2-4 years down the road. The idea is we will be much safer than your grocery store. This place will be 3,4, 5-times safer because we are taking all these steps.”
Only with these safety measures, Gold says, can he see his vision fulfilled, where families come out to play a round of miniature golf, enjoy a dinner together, see a movie and play some games afterwards. Instead of two hours in a theater, families can spend 4-5 hours enjoying a night of entertainment.
“It will have everything in one complex,” Gold says. “At a normal movie theater, maybe you go eat before you come, then see the movie and go somewhere else after. But, this will have everything. It’s going to be a real destination spot.”
The theater renovations, which Peck says could be completed sometime in September, are another part of a massive project at The Grove, which Gold purchased last September for $62.7 million.
By the end of the year, The Grove is expected to have more than 60 converted and redesigned shipping containers open at the trendy KRATE by Gold Box container park, which is being 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.
A host of other restaurants, bars and businesses are opening now, or are expected to open soon in “The Village” portion of the 200-acre complex.
For leasing & other info, search “Grove At Wesley Chapel” on Facebook, call (407) 636-1266 or see the ad on pg. 1 of every issue of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News!
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.”
In a tiny office tucked behind The Grove shopping center he recently bought for $62.7 million, Mark Gold is unveiling big dreams.
“Big, big, major,” he says. “This is major.”
Gold’s vision is all over the walls of the leasing office at The Grove, on blueprints and promotional materials.
There will be a family park, an amphitheatre for musical performances, a brewery, new restaurants, an indoor adventure facility, beautiful landscaping and lighting, and what Gold says will be the biggest shipping container park — think Sparkman Wharf, but on steroids — in the world.
A rendering of how a “container park” will look at The Grove.
There also is room for 400 homes, if Gold chooses to develop the additional acreage.
While others have, for too many years, seen a big box dead end office plaza with empty buildings and overgrown and unkempt land, Gold sees the future.
“This is a diamond that no one has touched for 10 years,” he says. “No one had the money to polish the diamond. That’s just crazy.”
The Grove, which opened in 2007 and whose current tenants include Best Buy, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Michael’s and others, as well as the Cobb 16 Movie Theater, may be an afterthought to many locals, a shopping center that once had great potential before development stopped. Gold and his Mishorim Gold Properties promise that will change.
“The message is, The Grove is coming back,” says Gold, emphatically. “It’s not owned by the bank or an insurance company anymore, it’s owned by creative developers that do this already all over the U.S.”
As Gold lays out his plan, it almost sounds too good to be true. However, District 2 Pasco County Commissioner Mike Moore, who arranged a meeting for Gold with county planners and administrators, loves the idea.
“I think he’s the real deal,” Moore says. “When he left after his presentation, there was energy and excitement in the room.”
Pasco’s uber-friendly-to-business county commission is likely to do what it can to make things happen fast. Many of the typical hold-ups — such as proper zoning and utilities — are all already in place.
The mostly vacant Village across the parking lot from stores like Best Buy, Marshall’s and DICK’s Sporting Goods has been mostly vacant but Gold already has new tenants signed to leases.
Gold, who has now owned the plaza less than a month, isn’t wasting any time starting to create a destination that he thinks could serve as a downtown Wesley Chapel one day.
“This is not only about money, it’s about vision,” he says. “Let’s bring something to Wesley Chapel that people like to come to.”
Just a few days after his purchase, he already had signed leases for 15 of the 60 containers, or micro-shops, that will populate the land between The Grove’s office “village” and Outback Steakhouse. Moore said he was impressed to see that overgrown grass had already been moved and some of the area was already being prepped.
Gold is hoping to create a European-flavored market or bazaar, with an emphasis on locally-owned stores and boutiques, and he says that in about two months, the containers will begin showing up.
“Things are moving fast,” he says. “This is big in places like Europe, Amsterdam…you see it all over the place. In the U.S., it is fresh. And, it is going to be the largest one in the world.”
Each of the container “shops,” which are former semi-truck trailers that will be outfitted with solar panels, is 40-feet long (although there are options to split the office containers into two or even three separate spaces), and here’s the big news — he is renting them out for only $1,500 a month for an entire container, with limited up-front costs for design.
“If you have a dream, let’s make it happen!,” Gold says.
“If you have a dream, let’s make it happen!,” he says. “This is your mom-and-pop opportunity, your dream. I care about my tenants. I want to help people come to us. Let me help you.”
A family park for children also will be one of the key components of The Grove’s transformation, as will a 36,000-sq.-ft. indoor trampoline/adventure park (see pg. 14)..
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is a part-owner of Surge Adventure Park, Gold says he already has Surge at four of his developments and that it is likely Brees will follow him to Wesley Chapel, too. Surge Adventure Park would be built near the Cobb 16 Movie Theater.
As we reported last issue, Double Branch Artisanal Ales, owned by Wesley Chapel residents, is expected to open in December, the first new project under Gold’s Mishorim Gold Properties.
“I think it is extraordinarily exciting for our community,” says Hope Allen, CEO of the North Tampa Bay Chamber. “It’s a long time coming. “It was disheartening to see (The Grove) not living up to its full potential over the last couple of years. I appreciate that new ownership is going to invest in it.”
Gold says he also has signed leases with at least four restaurants — pizza, sushi, gourmet hot dogs and frozen yogurt — for the currently mostly-vacant office park that he calls “The Village,” as well as a restaurant/duelling piano bar owned by Wesley Chapel resident Jamie Hess and his brother Joe.
“I met with him and was very enthusiastic and energetic,” said Jamie Hess, who signed his lease on Oct. 10. “I thought he had an amazing plan. I went home and researched his other properties and after that, I was sold. He’s going to make The Grove a huge success.” We’ll have a separate story about the piano bar in a future issue.
Gold has a reputation for investing in property that is undervalued and turning high-vacancy shopping and office centers into bustling, vibrant, family-focused entertainment destinations.
He bought the Lynnhaven North shopping center in Virginia Beach, VA, in late 2018 and quickly turned that around, with nearly $10 million worth of renovations and upgrades.
Whether you’re talking about the Regency Court Shopping Center in Jacksonville, or the Shoppes at Hickory Hollow in Antioch, TN, the DW Center in Newport News, VA, or a handful of other similar U.S. projects, Gold has swooped in to buy a failing shopping center and invested millions into transforming them.
And, the ebullient Gold is excited about The Grove’s prospects.
He says he has been looking to purchase land in the Tampa Bay area for years, but couldn’t find anything that suited him.
“It was like Mission Impossible,” he says.
He spent eight months negotiating to buy The Grove, when he says it usually takes him only about a month to complete similar deals.
The purchase included the 604,000 sq. ft. of existing shopping and dining space, as well as 1.3-million sq. ft. of retail and office space that he plans to build.
But, even better, The Grove is located in one of the southeast’s fastest-growing areas.
Not only are there thousands of homes at various stages of development within a 10-mile radius of The Grove in nearby communities like Mirada, Epperson and even Quail Hollow, but Wesley Chapel also boasts an average annual household income of $92,000.
The shopping center is located just off busy I-75, and can be seen by 100,000 drivers a day.
“I am in the middle of the all the action,” Gold says. “Right where I want to be.”
And soon, he hopes, where all of Wesley Chapel will want to be.
For leasing & more information about The Grove, contact keren@mgoldgroup.com.
