Selmon’s To Become An Outback? – New Tampa residents were stunned to see the closing of Lee Roy Selmon’s on Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., one of the more popular restaurants and bars in the New Tampa area.
Rumors are running rampant about what will happen with Selmon’s, but here’s the best information we have — although none of this had been confirmed by sources at either Mvp Holdings Tampa, Inc. (the company started by former Outback honchos Bob Basham, Chris Sullivan and Nicholas Reader, which owns Lee Roy Selmon’s, the new PDQ chain and Carmel Café), or by Outback Steakhouse parent company OSI Restaurant Partners LLC, which owns the land upon which the Selmon’s sits.
The initial reports and notices on the restaurant itself indicated that Selmon’s was closing temporarily for renovations and a possible name/format change, but an unnamed source with Mvp Holdings said that the bottom line was that Selmon’s lease expired and that OSI was seeking a huge increase in rent for the freestanding building which does not have direct access to BBD.
An article on NewTampaPatch.com quoted Selmon’s president Sam Tancredi as saying that our report of the Selmon’s reopening as an Outback was “untrue,” but Tancredi also left open the possibility that Selmon’s could move to another location if problems arose with the planned renovation of the building.
In other words, despite claims to the contrary, we still stand behind our story that the popular eatery will not reopen as a Selmon’s. To be continued.
54 U-Store & Trail & Assoc. Cut A Ribbon – 54 U-Store, located on S.R. 54 in Lutz, about a mile west of S.R. 56, and Trail & Associates Technologies hosted a joint Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) Ribbon Cutting party attended by nearly 100 people who got to see the air-conditioned storage facility first-hand on September 12. With fresh burgers and hot dogs on a grill, 30 door prizes and a Time for Wine wine Tasting, the event also introduced attendees to Trail & Assoc., which provides computer/IT systems and service.
For more info, visit 54 U-Store (23830 S.R. 54), call 909-0540 or visit 54UStore. com. For Trail & Assoc., call 649-8624. Please tell them we sent you!
Avalon Park West Breaks Ground On S.R. 54 – The Avalon Park Group, the same developers as the adjacent New River Township community, has broken ground on Avalon Park West (APW, located on the north side of S.R. 54, just east of New River) at a packed Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce event at the community’s new clubhouse.
Avalon Park West (APW) is approved for 4,800 single-family homes, with the first community, Cypress Village, to offer 342 homes. But, Eric Marks, the president of APW builder Avex Homes, said at the Aug. 28 groundbreaking that the number of single- and multi-family residential units in APW will likely end up being closer to 3,500. It also is approved for nearly 700,000 sq. ft. of office/retail space.
At the groundbreaking, attended by nearly 200 Avex/Avalon employees and Wesley Chapel Chamber members, Marks said that Avex Homes is building “with the lifestyle of families in mind.”
For more info, visit AvalonParkWest.com or AvexHomesFL.com.
Sweet Darling Quilts Turns 1! – Congratulations to owner Cathleene (Cathy) Tokish, the owner of Sweet Darling Quilts, and employees Lynn and Diane, in the Grand Oaks Square plaza on S.R. 54 (just west of Wesley Chapel) in Lutz, who recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of the store.
Sweet Darling Quilts, which offers classes and literally all of the materials you need to create some truly amazing quilts, is gearing up for the big USF Quilting Show, which will be held at the USF Botanical Gardens in early November.
For additional information, visit SweetDarlingQuilts.com, call 994-2994 or stop in at 26240 Wesley Chapel Blvd. — and please tell Cathy & her crew we sent you!
Authentic Colombian Cuisine at La Pollera Colorada – Meanwhile, we hope you’ll check out another eatery, located at 8904 N. 56th St. in Temple Terrace. La Pollera Colorada, owned by longtime local restaurateur Carlos Villegas, is open every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner and offers authentic Colombian cuisine and Carlos says his is the best homemade sangria in town.
For more info, call La Pollera Colorada at 988-3030.
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