Noodles, tacos, burgers and coffee are being served at some of the new Orlando-area restaurants opening this year.

Why this matters: New restaurants create jobs and business opportunities for local contractors and suppliers. They also help landlords lease up shopping centers and provide an amenity for existing residents and workers in the area, helping make developing areas more desirable. * Torchy’s Tacos: The Austin, Texas-based chain is entering the Orlando market by opening two new restaurants here. It’s Altamonte Springs location on 999 N. State Road 434, Suite 100 is set to open soon. It serves tacos with toppings such as fried chicken, shrimp, smoked beef brisket and fried avocado. It also features a full bar.

* JoJo’s Shake Bar: This Illinois-based dessert restaurant also is making its entrance here in 2023. It will be located at Pointe Orlando’s entertainment and tourist district at 9101 International Drive. Besides serving shakes and desserts, the 80s- and 90s-themed restaurant serves sandwiches, salads, soups, brunch and cocktails.

* Kung Fu Kitchen: It will open a new location at 8466 Palm Pkwy. in south Orlando near Disney later this year. Kung Fu Kitchen serves the best dim-sum in New York City, according to the Michelin Guide. It also has received the Bib Gourmand award, meaning this restaurant serves high-quality food at a reasonable price.

* Jaws Jumbo Burgers: Patrons may need a bigger belt to dine at this movie-themed restaurant. The new eatery, which will be minutes away from Universal Studios in the Dr. Phillips area, will open in April. The address and number of employees have not been revealed yet. Menu items such as sliders, single-, double- and triple-patty burgers, as well as chicken and fish sandwiches, chicken tenders, wings, fish and chips, fries and old-fashioned vanilla, chocolate or strawberry ice cream shakes and malts will be available.

* Papi Smash Burger: It is set to open on Feb. 23 at 66 E. Pine St. Chef Christopher Hernandez served these burgers via food truck before opening this brick-and-mortar location. Once inside the restaurant, it is decorated with pink and green, bringing a Miami vibe to Orlando. Items on the menu include burgers, chicken sandwiches and loaded yucca fries.

* The Dragon Vault: This medieval-themed restaurant will open later this year at the iconic 100-year-old bank building on 101 E. 1st St. in historic downtown Sanford. Specific menu items weren’t revealed but patrons should expect unique cocktails and swords of meats or vegetables cooked over a flame.

* SoFresh: Tampa-based SoFresh restaurant chain, known for its lean protein and vegetable-heavy salads and bowls, is set to open five new locations this year in the Orlando area. SoFresh already has signed leases for spaces in the Dr. Phillips area, Winter Springs and Celebration.

* Dutch Bros: The Grants Pass, Oregon-based coffee chain (NYSE: BROS) will open a location in Orlando developer Unicorp National Developments Inc.’s O-Town West at the southeast corner of Daryl Carter Parkway and Apopka Vineland Road later this year, spokeswoman Rilynn Davis told Orlando Business Journal. Some drinks on the menu include cold brews, Americanos, teas, lemonade and smoothies.

One of metro Orlando’s busiest high-profile developers has parted with a prime retail property it built in Seminole County.

Unicorp National Developments Inc. sold the retail components of its Griffin Farm mixed-use project in Lake Mary to Largo-based Equity Management Partners on Jan. 1. Ben Mallah, the principal and founder of Equity Management Partners, confirmed the off-market deal to Orlando Business Journal.

Why this matters: High-dollar commercial real estate properties can be important momentum drivers for the local economy and signal bullishness by investors on submarkets where they take place.

The deal includes three separate properties at 211, 236 and 242 Wheelhouse Lane, adjacent the Drake Midtown apartments, which also were part of Unicorp’s original mixed-use project but sold in a separate deal in 2019.

Unicorp President Chuck Whittall told OBJ his company originally had not intended to sell the property before being approached with the off-market offer.

“Interest rates continue to be awful and we want to have plenty of dry powder for projects,” Whittall said. “It made sense to free up that capital.”

Altogether, the retail components total 150,000 square feet of space spanning 10 acres.

Tenants include Winn-Dixie, 24 Hour Fitness, First Watch, Zaza Cuban Comfort Food and Crumbl Cookies, among others. The space is 100% leased, Mallah said.

Mallah further said his team liked the fact that new, Class A apartments were on site, building in consumers in close proximity, not to mention Lake Mary’s strong demographics.

“We like the fact that it was a newer project, so we don’t have any deferred maintenance,” Mallah said. “It has good tenants and good clientele profiles.”

Mallah complimented Unicorp on a well-done project, adding that he anticipates it will be a stable asset in his firm’s portfolio “for a very long time.”

Daniel Baruch, a broker and vice president for New York-based Legacy Realty Group, brokered the deal.

Equity Management Services has been active in Orlando previously, having owned and sold an International Drive hotel. Currently it holds a small retail property there, as well.

Mallah said he is still interested in further acquisition in Central Florida, in spite of what he termed a very difficult market. “I’m actively pursuing anything, anywhere that makes sense.”

Meanwhile, Whittall said he is not alone in his intended pullback for projects in 2023 and keeping an eye on 2024 as a time to ramp up again as costs may have come down by then. “I’ve talked to many fellow developers who do apartments, as well as retail, and they’re just putting everything on hold.”

This also is true on a national level, as construction starts declined by 18% in November 2022, according to Dodge Data and Analytics.

Richard Branch, Dodge’s chief economist, told The Business Journals previously that he has forecast a 10% decline in construction starts for nonresidential this year — and much of that dip will come from the office, industrial, hotel and retail sectors.

Things may appear to be rough out there, but Chuck Whittall still is pretty confident about growth opportunities throughout Orlando.

The president and CEO of Orlando-based Unicorp National Developments Inc. — Central Florida’s largest and most active commercial real estate developer with 1.64 million square feet under development in the region — said he’s still experiencing plenty of demand the macro-economic challenges business face these days.

Whittall was named one of Orlando Business Journal‘s 2022 Power Players among the Heavy Hitters, those who make the news year after year, and whose companies have a lasting legacy in the region. Despite dealing with supply chain shortages and a shaky economy, Whittall’s firm found its footing — and is growing.

Here, Whittall shares why local development has survived, grown and thrives despite difficult times:

In which areas are you seeing new or sustained demand for commercial properties? The largest is in mixed-use, inclusive of lifestyle retail, grocery and multifamily. Rising inflation rates have increased multifamily demand as inflation has pushed up interest rates, creating more demand for apartments.

What are some key considerations in choosing the location of your next project? Throughout the pandemic Florida stayed open. Many other states did not, so all the opportunities here caused a large influx of the residential population. Everything we build caters to people and the more people we have the more growth we see. We are very content in Central Florida as we feel like we are in the center of the bullseye and that’s where we continue to grow.

What is your 2023 outlook? Super positive. I expect interest rates to come back down, and the demand for our industry to remain very strong. We always play to the market we are in and remain bullish on Central Florida growth.

More than a year ago, the Longboat Town Commission gave their approval for the Residences at St. Regis Resort to be built at the former site of The Colony Beach and Tennis Resort. Since then, Moss Construction has been busy building what the developer says will be the nicest resort in all of Florida. When it is complete, the 166-room hotel along with three condo buildings comprising 69 units will be a landmark destination on Longboat Key, reviving a popular destination that invokes nostalgic memories in many local residents. Chuck Whittall, president of Orlando-based Unicorp National Developments Inc., said construction was “on budget and on time,” and he expects the construction phase of the project will be completed in March 2024, with occupancy of the condo units expected in July 2024. The condo units in the property have all been sold, he said. The St. Regis project on Longboat Key has been a passion project for Whittall as it’s taken more than 10 years from when he became involved to when he expects the project to be completed.

“Most of our projects take just two or three years,” he said. “But this one will have taken 12 years, but it’s going to be beautiful.”

Because of The Colony’s ownership structure, a protracted legal fight ensued after the resort closed its doors in the early 2000s, which wasn’t resolved until Whittall became involved in redeveloping the property.

Not even Hurricane Ian has been able to slow down the construction progress.

“There’s been many barriers,” Whittall said, “and none of them has stopped us.”

Chuck Whittall’s Feature

To view the full article:

Orlando Business Journal’s 2022 Power Players in Central Florida recognizes business leaders and executives who are helping grow and innovate the way business is done throughout the region.

These 50 honorees — actually 51 people, since one honoree is a tag team — are winners in a nomination-based awards program highlighting key executives in the area. Some of these local leaders are well known, some have been rising in prominence and others are people you definitely need to meet. Winners were chosen in five categories: Industry Giants, Disruptors, Deal Makers, Connectors and Heavy Hitters.

Chuck Whittall  President/CEO, Unicorp National Developments Inc.

• No. of local employees: 100-plus
• Years in the industry: 25

Company description: Orlando-based company that develops the places where you live, work and play, from mixed-use retail developments to office buildings to luxury apartments and branded residences to five-star luxury hotels.

Top pandemic accomplishment: Being chairman of the reopening committee and getting our Central Florida businesses back open

Pain points: The Fed raising interest rates and supply chain shortages delaying projects

What was your company’s most significant accomplishment in its history? Acquiring The Colony property on 18 acres on the beach in Longboat Key. It took me 10 years to complete the litigation and we finally are under construction. We sold out of our 69 condos at the highest price ever on the west coast of Florida, and will open the St. Regis hotel in mid-2024.

Oliv Epicurean Grill, a Mediterranean restaurant, opened Aug. 3 at a new location on LPGA Boulevard in Daytona Beach.

Dan Moon, the owner, conceived the idea when Olive was in college when she made a deal with her roommate Sam to cook if Mr. Moon bought food. This will be the catalyst for this inventive restaurant.

“Sam was an exceptional cook, his mother taught him everything she knew, and since college I’ve eaten at some of the best restaurants in the world and I’ve never met the caliber of his food,” Mr Moon said. So he called on a longtime friend and the creation of Oliv Epicurean Grill was born. The concept is simple; fresh, healthy, high-quality food at a fast pace.

“There was nothing there and I knew a kitchen like this would be perfect in this situation,” Mr Moon said.

Born and raised in Chicago, he opened his first location in Holly Hill in 2014, and the location became so popular that it drew people from all over and helped revitalize the city.

According to Mr. Moon, the Holly Hill location will become an emergency location. Olive has always been known for its cleanliness, but they have temporarily closed Holly Hill for a good cleaning and renovation. It will reopen in early September with a limited menu.

In 2018, Mr. Moon decided to try his hat in Palm Beach and spent about a million dollars to open a healthy food concept.

“We couldn’t win that market, organic and hormone-free didn’t seem that important, and then came Covid,” he said. “Because of the prolonged Covid, we had to make a very difficult decision and we had to leave. It was very difficult, but the right decision.”

After the market stabilized with the pandemic abating, he wanted to try to expand again. It has agreed with Unicorp National Development to use the LPGA property in 2019.

“It was a forest back then, but it looks like it’s going to be a trust area,” Mr Moon said.
Olive is about the only stand-alone restaurant in the area surrounded by national chains, and it’s thriving. They don’t plan to stop there, he said, and are actively considering expansion, and some areas of interest include Port Orange, Durham Park, Ponte Verde and Jacksonville.

“The LPGA location is bright, happy and a good environment and the customers love it! We give them the option to choose a pre-made meal or pick things up for themselves,” said Jordan Hannun, a server at the restaurant. “We have fresh vegetables chopped daily, vegetarian options, falafel, grilled vegetables and fresh meat to go with it. We don’t use a lot of salt and it’s a healthy… energizing type of food.”

Mediterranean cuisine is a diet inspired by the eating habits of people living near the Mediterranean Sea. It was originally formulated in the 1960s; he used the cuisines of Greece, Italy, France and Spain and incorporated others such as Turkey, the Balkans, the Middle East, North Africa and Portugal.

“We were told about Olive by word of mouth,” said customer Stacey Finnelli. “We love this type of food for its health benefits and great flavor and spices.”

Evidence suggests that this diet reduces the risk of heart attacks and is associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, cancer, obesity, cognitive impairment and depressive disorders.

Olive’s menu consists of things like Tabouli; Fattoush, Caesar and Greek salads; Lemon and red lentil soups; and Coconut, Granola, Peanut Butter and Tropical Fruit Acai Bowls. Bowls and wraps include vegetables, chicken, steak, Kefta (ground beef and lamb), Al Pastor (prime beef), chicken shawarma and lamb.

“I like that they cook the meat right in front of you instead of some stranger and the meat comes out the back,” said Tonya Logan, a new Olive customer. “We like something useful, good and fast, that’s why we’re here.”

Some of the popular original items are Baba Ganoush, Toom, Kibbe, Falafel Taboli, Falafel and they offer Dairy Free Kito and Sugar Free.

“We have a lot of resources around us, so we’re working with local farmers for meat and produce,” Mr Moon said. “This is premium food and we start with premium ingredients. We use organic and local products whenever possible, but if there are not enough local ingredients, we don’t.”

The blueberry, red velvet and carrot cake is keto, vegan, dairy-free and sugar-free, and they also offer New York cheese, sea salt cheese and baklava.

“We have two brick-and-mortar restaurants and a food truck that is our mobile restaurant,” he said. “We use it for special events. We recently had a Walmart Employee Appreciation Day and B. We’ve been to events for Brown Factories and we also provide food trucks for weddings, proms and parties. On Labor Day, we will be located on the beach behind the Hilton Oceanfront.”

Oliv Epicurean Grill is located at 2071 LPGA Blvd., Daytona Beach and Suite 300 at 701 Ridgewood Ave., Holly Hill. For more information, visit olivgrill.com.

Although best-known for Vegas clubs, Tao’s first hotel will open in Orlando.

After more than 20 years of velvet ropes, bottle service, elevated dim sum, raucous pool parties, event planning and catering, breakfast-in-bed delivery, and rooftop revelry at more than 70 branded locations across 20 markets and five continents, Tao Group Hospitality is ready to take its over-the-top cool dining and entertaining game to the next level with its own branded hotel.

Known for popular restaurants and nightlife boîtes like Beauty & Essex, Marquee, LAVO, OMNIA, and of course, their eponymous nightclubs, the group’s first hotel property will open in Orlando in 2025, as part of O-Town West, a $1 billion, 350-acre mixed-use development moving in to southwest Orange County. “A hotel was the natural evolution for us, and we’re really excited to create a property that truly reflects the Tao lifestyle,” said Noah Tepperberg, Tao Group Hospitality co-CEO, in a release shared with TripSavvy.

“The Tao clientele has evolved with us over the years and is looking for more than just a few hours of fun at one of our locations. This hotel will be an exquisite escape and will enable us to showcase our company’s flagship concept in a whole new way.”

Though the brand is partnering with Unicorp National Developments on the project, the hotel promises to be recognizable to any traveler who has frequented infamous Tao-operated venues, as longtime affiliate Rockwell Group will design the property from top to bottom. The look will include its signature dark, upscale, and vibey spaces, with early renderings showcasing dark crimson walls and sumptuous plush chairs in the reception area.

“More than just culinary and nightlife, Tao is a lifestyle,” Tepperberg continued. “This large-scale venture provides the ultimate opportunity to bring that experience to life.”

The luxury lodgings will feature a TAO Asian Bistro, a rooftop experience, high-end suites, meeting spaces, and a state-of-the-art fitness facility. As the opening is several years away, TGH hopes to tide its loyalists over with at least 10 branded locations planned to open in 2023.

A hospitality company known for providing entertainment experiences through its worldwide portfolio of restaurants, nightclubs, lounges and day clubs is opening its first resort hotel in Orlando’s tourism district, according to a report in GrowthSpotter.

A 220-room Tao Hotel – a product of London-based Tao Group Hospitality – will anchor the City Center at O-Town West. It’s a $1 billion, 365-acre mixed-use community that Unicorp National Developments is building out near Universal theme parks. City Center is one of four districts across the sprawling O-Town West mixed-use site at the corner of Daryl Carter Parkway and Palm Parkway where three luxury apartment communities totaling 1,500 units are in the construction pipeline. While a number of retailers have already opened for business – such as a World of Beer, Portillo’s, and the nation’s largest White Castle -a high-rise hotel was always envisioned to serve as the centerpiece.

Chuck Whittall, Unicorp’s President, told GrowthSpotter that the Tao Hotel would be a five-star luxury resort rising 15 stories.

Tao Group Hospitality, part of Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp, announced in a news release this week that it would include a TAO Asian Bistro, rooftop bar, meeting space, and fitness facility.

“This is a giant deal,” Whittall said. “It’s bringing in a high-end themed restaurant, and generally you’d only find restaurants like this in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago or Miami. I think this takes Orlando to the next level. It’s such a great concept.”

He credited Unicorp’s director of leasing Taylor Coen for closing the deal after more than a year and a half of negotiating.

“I think people from all over Central Florida will drive a distance to come here,” Whittall added. “It’s just a very cosmopolitan type brand. It’s going to be beautiful.”

Next door to the hotel site, the nine-story corporate headquarters for Marriott Vacations Worldwide is under construction and is expected to bring 2,000 employees to the area. Unicorp also plans to move its corporate office to the hotel’s top floor. Tao Group Hospitality operates more than 40 of its branded locations inside existing hotels across the world including seven stand-alone properties for which the group handles full food and beverage operations including room service.

“A hotel was the natural evolution for us,” Tao Group Hospitality Co-CEO Noah Tepperberg said in a news release. “We’ve had the honor of working with some of the world’s top hotel developers, and we’re really excited to create a property that truly reflects the TAO lifestyle.”

The hotel is expected to open by 2025, the release says.

Unicorp National Developments Inc.’s $1 billion-plus O-Town West mixed-use development has landed a first-of-its-kind resort concept.

New York-based Tao Group Hospitality, a subsidiary of Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corp. (NYSE: MSGE) announced Nov. 9 that O-Town West will be the site of Tao Hotel, which will be Orlando’s first Tao-branded resort.

The luxury hotel also will include a Tao Asian Bistro restaurant, which is known for drawing athletes, celebrities and businesspeople. Other Tao Asian Bistro locations include Chicago, Los Angeles and The Venetian Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

Why this matters: Large projects such as Unicorp’s O-Town West and the future Tao Hotel create opportunities for contractors and subcontractors during development and construction, while also creating hundreds of jobs once complete. Such projects also can attract more investment to the region.

Unicorp President Chuck Whittall told Orlando Business Journal his company will develop the property and the 220-room hotel could cost $150 million to build, while the combined price for the hotel and restaurant may end up closer to $175 million.

Whittall said he and his team — specifically Taylor Coan, Unicorp’s director of leasing — have been working on the deal with Tao Group for about a year-and-a-half and it represents a huge deal, not just for the O-Town West project, but also for Orlando. “To bring a specialty brand like this to Orlando, we think it’s going to change the whole face of the city.”

The Tao Hotel will rise within the City Center at O-Town West component of the larger development, at the corner of Daryl Carter Parkway and Palm Parkway, adjacent the under-construction headquarters for Marriott Vacations Worldwide. The plan is to start work in the project in 2024 and finish in 2025.

Tao Group is a luxury dining and nightlife company with high-profile restaurants, lounges and other concepts in markets such as Chicago, Las Vegas, London, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Shanghai.

The brand having its own hotel is part of a “natural evolution” for the firm, said Tao Group CEO Noah Tepperberg in a prepared statement. “The Tao Group Hospitality clientele has evolved with us over the years and is looking for something that can provide them with more than just a few hours of fun at one of our locations. … More than just culinary and nightlife, Tao is a lifestyle, and this large-scale venture provides the ultimate opportunity to bring that experience to life.”

Tao Group and Unicorp will work with New York-based architecture firm Rockwell Group to design the property, which also will include other amenities such as a rooftop bar experience and a pool club.

Having a Tao-branded restaurant, in particular, could be a game-changer for the region, especially given the project’s proximity to the Orange County Convention Center, said Whittall. “You can’t find that in Orlando outside of Disney World. We haven’t had something like that and we think it’s going to be a very special addition.”

The announcement for Tao Hotel comes as metro Orlando’s tourism is seeing record amounts of people coming to the region.

For instance, a recent report from Orange County Comptroller Phil Diamond showed the county’s resort tax collections — an indicator of the tourism and travel industry’s health — ended the 2021-2022 fiscal year with an all-time-high of $336.3 million, up 18.4% from $284 million in fiscal 2018-2019 before the pandemic,

Meanwhile, the Tao Hotel would be the latest luxury-focused component of the larger O-Town West project. For instance, Whittall recently told OBJ the group is planning The Luxe at Dr. Phillips as part of the development — a 200-unit “super luxury” apartment community.

Luke Wickham, a senior managing director in the Orlando office of Marcus & Millichap Inc.’s (NYSE: MMI) Institutional Property Advisors, who is not involved in the plans, previously said Whittall is a good bet on projects aspiring to that level of luxury. “He’s a world-class developer with a real eye for detail in the high-end market.”

“Tao is a lifestyle, and this large-scale venture provides the ultimate opportunity to bring that experience to life.”

Tao Group Hospitality is no stranger to hotels, delighting guests with over-the-top nightlife and culinary experiences for years. But now, the buzzy group is taking it to the next level by building their own property.

The group will look to open its first-ever Tao-branded resort in Orlando in 2025, bringing its signature dark and vibey spaces to an entire hotel, Tao Group Hospitality exclusively told Travel + Leisure. The new hotel will feature dark crimson walls and plush chairs in the reception area, according to renderings viewed by T+L.

The hotel, which is being designed by the Rockwell Group, will also include a Tao Asian Bistro, a rooftop experience, suites, a meeting space, a fitness facility, and more.

“A hotel was the natural evolution for us,” Tao Group Hospitality Co-CEO Noah Tepperberg said in a statement shared with T+L. “We’ve had the honor of working with some of the world’s top hotel developers, and we’re really excited to create a property that truly reflects the Tao lifestyle.”

“The Tao Group Hospitality clientele has evolved with us over the years and is looking for something that can provide them with more than just a few hours of fun at one of our locations… More than just culinary and nightlife,,” Tepperberg added. “Tao is a lifestyle, and this large-scale venture provides the ultimate opportunity to bring that experience to life.”

The new hotel will open in the O-Town West development, a 350-acre mixed-use community development.Beyond the new property, the Tao Group operates more than 70 branded locations in cities across the globe from Las Vegas — like the Tao Beach Dayclub at The Venetian, which reopened earlier this year — to New York, Singapore, and beyond. The group plans to open at least ten more branded locations in 2023.

Beyond the new property, the Tao Group operates more than 70 branded locations in cities across the globe from Las Vegas — like the Tao Beach Dayclub at The Venetian, which reopened earlier this year — to New York, Singapore, and beyond. The group plans to open at least ten more branded locations in 2023.

Chuck Whittall’s Unicorp National Developments Inc. remains busy in Orange County’s fast-growing Horizon West region, with a new project to build 250 apartments entering its pipeline.

Why this matters: Residential and retail growth in Horizon West continues to boom, with new developments adding to the list of potential opportunities for contractors and subcontractors. More apartments are needed in the area to help meet surging renter demand. A request to rezone 13.83 acres at 14331 Avalon Road in southwest Orange County was filed Nov. 1 with Orange County.

The request seeks to rezone the land as the Sutton Grande Planned Development and to create entitlements for up 250 apartment homes.

Sutton Grande LLC, an entity related to Whittall and Unicorp, is the owner of the land and Erika Hughes, in the Orlando office of planning firm VHB, is acting as applicant and agent on the landowner’s behalf.

Executives for Unicorp and Hughes were not available for comment in time for publication.

Preliminary plans included in the filing note the apartments to be built there would rise no higher than four stories in height. The project could cost $62.5 million to build, based on industry standards.

Unicorp bought the vacant property June 14 for $7.5 million, Orange County records show.

The developer has been active elsewhere in the Horizon West region, as well.

Unicorp’s The Mark at Horizon West retail center on Seidel Road is commanding high tenant rents and recently saw a Huey Magoo’s restaurant open its doors there.

Near that, at the corner of Seidel Road and Avalon Road, Unicorp paid $6.57 million for 16.8 acres where it has plans for a luxury apartment community.

Also nearby, but outside of Horizon West, is the developer’s $1 billion-plus O-Town West mixed-use development, which Whittall recently told OBJ will be pursuing a new “super-luxury” apartment project to be named The Luxe at Dr. Phillips.

As for the multifamily growth in Horizon West and southwest Orange County, Scott Ramey, an executive managing director for Newmark, previously said the area is attractive to residents — and therefore also is attractive to investors.

“It’s all fueled by accessibility. People are gravitating to this area because of the newness, but you also have the benefit of really strong connectivity throughout metro Orlando.”

Meanwhile, the Unicorp project in Horizon West would rise within the I-Drive Orlando multifamily submarket. According to CoStar Group, the submarket has an average monthly apartment rent of $1,945 and a 7.1% average vacancy rate — both above metro Orlando’s overall $1,810 and 5.6%, respectively — according to CoStar Group.

The I-Drive Orlando submarket is also the region’s busiest for apartments, with 1,313 units delivered in the past 12 months and another 6,654 under construction.

Convenience store and gas station chain Wawa Inc. has a pair of locations in the works: one in Ocoee and one in the O-Town West development in southwest Orlando.

The Media, Pennsylvania-based, privately held company, which has one area location under construction and the other in the planning stages, is known for its fresh and built-to-order hoagie sandwiches and other hot food, as well as a large selection of hot and cold coffee drinks. Each store build is expected to create about 150 jobs in construction and 30 permanent jobs, and costs to build the stores are about $5.4 million on average, according to sister newspaper South Florida Business Journal.

Why this matters: New store locations can create construction opportunities in the short term and add jobs in the long term.

Here’s more on the local stores in the pipeline:

* O-Town West: A 6,119-square-foot Wawa is under construction at Orlando-based Unicorp National Developments Inc.’s O-Town West mixed-use development at 7785 Palm Parkway. According to Wawa, the location will be one of eight in Florida to debut this fall. An exact opening date was not available.

* Ocoee: A Wawa location has been proposed at 9729 W. Colonial Drive in Ocoee on 3.39 acres. The project is set to go before the city’s planning and zoning commission for an amendment to the planned unit development/land-use plan for Ocoee Town Shops to allow the gas station use on the property.

Executives with Wawa were not available for comment.

Wawa, which does not offer franchises, plans to open 100 new stores in Florida over the next five years, including in new areas like the Panhandle. Wawa opened its first store in Orlando in 2012 and has grown to 10,000 employees and 250 stores in the Sunshine State, including 50 locations in Central Florida.

As of the start of 2022, there were 148,026 convenience stores operating in the U.S., down 1.5% from 150,274 at the end of 2020, according to the Alexandria, Virginia-based National Association of Convenience Stores.

The trade association found total U.S. convenience store sales reached $705.7 billion in 2021, including both food and fuel sales, up from $ 548.2 billion in 2020.

“The sales and performance metrics show that our industry is resilient,” Charlie McIlvaine, a member of the NACS Board of Directors, said in a prepared statement. “Our rapid adjustments to product assortment and the embrace of last-mile solutions allowed our industry to hold its own over the past few years, but to grow, especially market basket, is simply remarkable. While there are numerous headwinds facing retail in 2022, I am very optimistic about our channel’s future.”

October has been a busy month in the Central Florida hotel sales and development world.

New luxury hotel projects are kicking off on construction, redevelopment plans on I-Drive are being revived and hotels are changing hands. In fact, at least four major hotel properties and projects have made key moves this month. Why this matters: A healthy hotel market is an indicator of the tourism market’s health. Transactions and investment in the region also lead to new business opportunities.

Here’s what you need to know about this month’s hotel activity:

* Fairmont hotel project: The project team for New York-based Development Ventures Group’s proposed 550-room Fairmont Orlando hotel applied for a state permit on Oct. 21 for the stormwater system that will accommodate the property.

* I-Drive resort project: Unicorp National Developments Inc.’s planned redevelopment of the Wyndham Orlando Resort International Drive resort should lead to another $1 billion-plus of investment, including rebuilding the hotel on the property as a 600-room high-rise tower with additional apartments and retail space.

* Celebration Hotel: The 115-room hotel was bought by Chattanooga, Tennessee-based Vision Hospitality Group on Oct. 20.

* Castle Hotel: This unique property on International Drive is in the hands of a new owner. Boca Raton-based Waramaug Hospitality sold the 214-room hotel, part of Marriott International Inc.’s (Nasdaq: MAR) Autograph Collection family, to Orlando Castle Owner LLC on Oct. 13.

This hotel activity is proof the region is seeing a quick recovery from the Covid shutdown, which should lead to more investment.

For example, several hotel experts have said major local projects like Universal Orlando’s Epic Universe theme park — which is under construction and will open in 2025 — will result in a renewed interest to build and buy hotel properties in the market in time for when a new surge of tourists comes.

Also, Orlando has been the beneficiary of pent-up travel demand since Covid-19 vaccines have become more available and people have become more comfortable traveling.

Upcoming holiday trends look strong for the region, according to Visit Orlando CEO Casandra Matej. Advance hotel bookings for the final months of 2022 are pacing only slightly behind pre-pandemic levels. In addition, flight and hotel search trends for the market also are healthy indicators of incoming travel.

Data from Visit Orlando shows the local average hotel occupancy rate was 73.2% in August, up from 56.4% for the same time in 2021.

Central Florida’s tourism and travel industry, which includes hotels, is a $75 billion juggernaut that employs tens of thousands of direct and indirect workers in the region.

Earlier this month, developer Unicorp National Developments Inc. revived its long-laid plans for the redevelopment of the Wyndham Orlando Resort International Drive.

Reached by phone, Unicorp President Chuck Whittall confirmed those plans to the Orlando Business Journal and explained why he felt now is the time to set this project at 8001 International Drive back in motion. Why this matters: Unicorp’s redevelopment of the I-Drive resort should lead to another $1 billion-plus of investment in one of Orlando’s most important economic corridors — and could attract more capital and projects to follow it.

Whittall’s firm is equal partners on the project with New York-based Flag Luxury Group LLC. He said Unicorp and Flag Luxury Group for some timehad wanted to move forward on the redevelopment, plans for which date back to 2014, but his firm’s slate of projects — including the $1 billion-plus O-Town West mixed-use development — has kept his team “very, very busy.”

Whittall said the progress on Universal Orlando Resort’s Epic Universe theme park and hotel projects about a mile east of the resort are partly a motivating factor to get the redevelopment’s wheels turning once again. “With Universal moving forward as quick as it is, we just want to get going so that when it opens, we’re ready to open.”

Unicorp and Flag Luxury Groupwill rebuild the hotel on the property as a 600-room high-rise tower, said Whittall. The plans also call for 1,200-1,400 apartments and 40,000-50,000 square feet of retail space.

He said the goal is to break ground in early 2024. Unicorp’s project will rise in the heart of Orlando’s tourist corridor, which is one of the region’s most important economic drivers

Meanwhile, in September, Apopka-based contractor Finfrock Construction LLC filed a notice of commencement for Project 912, the rumored project codename for one of Epic Universe’s hotels fronting Universal Boulevard. That permit runs through 2025, giving a preliminary indication of the project’s timeline for completion.

Unicorp’s project is gearing back up as the local hotel industry continues to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic’s negative financial impact. For example, resort tax collections in Orange County reached $23.4 million in August 2022, up 41.1% from $16.5 million in August 2021, said county documents. Year-to-date collections show a total $311.9 million has been collected so far — an all-time record — despite one more month yet to be collected before the end of the county’s fiscal year.

August’s resort tax collections were “fueled by steady hotel demand (1% above 2019) and a strong average daily room rate ($125.60 vs. $107.01 August 2019),” according to a Visit Orlando newsletter. For August 2022, metro Orlando’s occupancy rate was 66.9%, slightly lower than 2019 and up from 52.5% in 2021.

Robust hotel tax collections show the region’s tourism health and can help provide a peek into the overall year’s performance.

As for the apartment component of Unicorp’s plans for the site, the I Drive Orlando multifamily submarket is the busiest in the region with 1,313 units delivered in the past 12 months and 6,654 units under construction, according to CoStar Group.

The submarket has an average monthly apartment rent of $1,945 and a 7.1% average vacancy rate. In comparison, the metro has an average monthly apartment rent of $1,810 and a 5.6% average vacancy rate.

Meanwhile, Orlando’s third quarter year-over-year rent growth of 10% was second-highest among U.S. metros.

“Our multifamily market is still very, very strong,” said Lisa McNatt, CoStar’s director of market analytics in Orlando.

White Castle’s new pickup and delivery-only restaurant near its Orlando store has an opening date of Oct. 26, and the chain is looking to build more restaurants in Florida.

The Ohio-based company is “having some fun” searching for new sites for traditional restaurants in the state but will be patient, said White Castle vice president Jamie Richardson. “We’re continuing to look in Florida and we’ll see where it leads,” Richardson said.

Meanwhile, the new 1,800-square-foot store just yards from the White Castle near Walt Disney World will fill orders from customers placed on whitecastle .com and through the White Castle app, as well as deliveries by DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub.

It is being marketed as White Castle’s first “Crave & Go.”

The restaurant revealed plans in April for the new location within Unicorp National Developments’ O-Town West project at Palm and Daryl Carter Parkways.

Customers who still want to order in-person for dine-in or in the drive-through will need to go to the full 4,567-square-foot restaurant, which rewrote the company’s record books by selling five million sliders in its first year.

“It really hasn’t slowed down,” Richardson said.

The new restaurant will also feature a “Flippy 2” robot arm that uses cameras and artificial intelligence to take French fries, chicken rings and cheese sticks out of a freezer and put them in the fryer.

Richardson said the robot will free up White Castle staffers from working the fryer so they can do other tasks.

“It isn’t replacing people, but it is making the job easier,” Richardson said.

7 Chuck Whittall

Founder, President & CEO, Unicorp National Developments

Chuck Whittall’s 2020 book, “Perseverance: Broke to Billions,” tells readers how to build a billion-dollar business. The Orlando entrepreneur who ran a lawn-care service at age 12 and opened a teen nightclub at 18 should know. President and CEO of Unicorp National Developments, Whittall juggles 30 Central Florida development projects and another 20 Midwest U.S. projects partnering with Wawa Inc.

Well-known for his development of ICON Park and bringing Trader Joe’s to Central Florida, Whittall is now immersed in multiple projects including Unicorp’s sprawling O-Town West development. The company, which just finished The Mark master-planned community in Horizon West, also will develop a 100-acre, mixed-use town center in Oviedo. “Every time I think we can’t get busier, we get busier.”

Read the full article in the Orlando Magazine.

Dutch Bros. Inc. has confirmed its first Florida store in Orlando, but in a different location from where it first looked.

The Grants Pass, Oregon-based coffee chain (NYSE: BROS) will open a location in Orlando developer Unicorp National Developments Inc.’s O-Town West at the southeast corner of Daryl Carter Parkway and Apopka Vineland Road, spokeswoman Rilynn Davis told Orlando Business Journal.

The chain plans to open in late 2023 or early 2024 at that site, and more details will be revealed at a later date. Unicorp Senior Associate Christian Nacorda represented Unicorp, while Robert Holihan and Jason Kaiser with SRS represented Dutch Bros.

Dutch Bros. previously considered a drive-thru and patio in Seminole County at 3340 E. Semoran Blvd. in Apopka, but is no longer considering that site. Portland-based Cole Valley Partners was the development partner for that proposal.

Each store usually has 40-50 employees, with four to eight working at any given time, per the Seminole County application from Cole Valley Partners.

Dutch Bros., which had $498 million in 2021 revenue, opened 65 new stores in the first half of 2022 and expects to reach 130 by the end of the year, sister paper Portland Business Journal reported. The company operates 603 locations in 11 states. Currently, the closest location to Orlando is in Tennessee, more than 500 miles away.

The menu for Dutch Bros. includes hot or cold coffee — flavored cold brews, freezes and breves — as well as tea, chai, smoothies, shakes, lemonade, cocoa, soda, energy drinks and snacks like chocolate chip muffin tops, orange cranberry muffin tops, lemon poppyseed muffin tops and granola bars. Featured flavors include caramel pumpkin brulee coffee, sweater weather chai and more.

Other coffee shops that plan to enter Central Florida include:

• Double O’s Coffee, which plans to open first brick-and-mortar shops in Orlando, with six area locations in the works.
• Stemma Craft Coffee, which is slated to debut its first U.S. shop in Orlando.

California-based franchise Vitality Bowls will open a third Orlando eatery in O-Town West in September.

That’s in addition to a fourth local store planned in Maitland at 360 E. Horatio Ave. Opening details on the next Orlando-area location have not been released yet. The 1,200-square-foot O-Town West location at 11810 Glasshouse Lane has a target opening date of Sept. 2, O-Town West franchise owner Sergio Lopez said. That date might be pushed back, he said, based on when the shop’s health inspection is completed and when he’s able to secure a business operating license from the state.

Vitality Bowls will join other brands congregating in the Village, one of four master-planned commercial complexes in the 350-acre, $1 billion O-Town West mixed-use project, owned by Unicorp National Developments. The Village is anchored by two large chains, Lopez said: White Castle and Portillo’s.

Two additional Vitality Bowls restaurants in the Orlando area, in Ocoee and Dr. Phillips, are operated by a different franchisee.

Lopez signed the lease for O-Town West in 2019. The onset of Covid-19 delayed construction on the complex, as well as the buildout for Vitality Bowls itself, he said.

The area is desirable for its blend of local and tourist traffic, said Lopez. The site sits in proximity to SeaWorld, Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort, while still being close to residential areas.

Lopez also owns a jewelry kiosk at the Florida Mall and three NYS Collection shops at Orlando-area malls. As he and his wife considered which franchise to approach next, Vitality Bowls intrigued them because of its emphasis on superfood-stuffed, low-sugar acai bowls, he said. “We’ve always had a big interest in nutrition and wanted to fulfill that dream of combining two passions: nutrition and retail.”

The O-Town West location will seat 25 indoors and around 16 outdoors, Lopez said. He contracted with Clermont-based Burton Construction Management for a buildout in the $220,000-$250,000 range.

Overall expenses for opening the cafe totaled almost $400,000, Lopez said. That includes higher-than-expected costs associated with hiring employees, including advertisements on Indeed, CareerPlug and ZipRecruiter. Assembling the team of 10 the restaurant needs to open has been the biggest pre-opening challenge so far, but the shop is finally approaching the mark, he said.

The restaurant industry added 74,100 new jobs in July, the most since February, according to Bureau of Labor and Statistics data compiled by the National Restaurant Association. While job opportunities have surged, ongoing labor shortages have stymied growth: 50% of restaurant operators surveyed by the association reported recruiting and retaining employees as their biggest challenge.

Accommodation and food services had the highest quit rate at 5.7% across 16 industries surveyed by BLS in June 2022. The average quit rate among all industries was 2.8%, in comparison.

Now that he’s addressed the hiring shortage, Lopez said he needs to source products and other materials needed to open the new location. The franchise uses a combination of national distributors like Sysco and local food vendors for its fresh produce.

Soaring produce prices will make some ingredients harder to come by, said Lopez. Raspberries and goat cheese are particularly in short supply and may require substitutes, he said. “That’s a huge challenge for the franchise overall: to be able to source ingredients at a viable price, without customer prices going through the roof or margins being cut.”

Vitality Bowls specializes in customizable acai bowls, which range from $11 to $15, as well as smoothies, wraps and salads. The company has 74 locations open in 19 states across the country, including four existing locations in Florida. Seven more locations are slated to come online soon.

With 10,000 multifamily units in the construction pipeline for Orange County, Unicorp National Developments continues to take an “innovative” approach to make sure none of its ongoing projects look the same.

Take what the company is planning in Horizon West as an example: A 212-unit luxury apartment community with a wine tasting lounge and an indoor basketball court.

After purchasing the 16-acre property between S.R. 429 and Avalon Road roughly a year ago for $6.5 million, Unicorp is pursuing a multifamily project called Elysian that’s set to go before the county’s development review committee on Wednesday.

The project team consists of Michigan-based architectural firm Kreiger Klatt Architects and engineering firm Kimley Horn.

In addition to four, 4-story garden apartment buildings throughout the gated property, the site will also include four smaller carriage house buildings with four units apiece.

Unicorp CEO Chuck Whittall told GrowthSpotter that these two-to-three story carriage homes would be akin to smaller houses totaling around 1,200 square feet with two bedrooms and an enclosed garage per unit.

The amenity package includes a wine lounge, the indoor basketball court, and clubhouse with pool tables, a 24-hour fitness center, a yoga studio, a theater room, a business center with private offices and printing stations, a swimming pool with a jacuzzi, a sauna, an outdoor fire pit and an outdoor gaming area.

“We are just trying to be innovative in our projects,” Whittall said. “Yes, there will be wine tastings on site and we found the carriage houses to be very interesting as if they were almost a small home.”

Across from the Lakeshore Preserve subdivision, the triangular property sits within the Hickory Nut Village of Horizon West, one of the hottest real estate submarkets in the Orlando area. Located at the northeast corner of Avalon and Seidel Roads, the land is a few miles west of Disney theme parks.

Before Unicorp snagged the property, it was owned by an entity led by real estate manager Cole Clayton. He filed an application to Orange County in May of 2021 to rezone the land from A-1 to PD in order to allow as many as 332 apartment units.

That land-use plan was approved by the county commission on April 20.

For Elysian, site plans included in agenda materials show residential buildings of various sizes. Buildings 1 and 2 on the north side of the property would hold 56 units and 44 units respectively.

Buildings 3 and 4 — extending along the east side of the pool and clubhouse, facing a large pond — would hold 48 and 56 units respectively.

The community will include 18 studio apartments, 74 one-bedroom units, 104 two-bedroom units, and 16 three-bedroom units. Site plans drafted by engineering firm Kimley-Horn show 1.8 acres of open space for parks and recreational activities along with two out-parcels along Seidel Road for future development.

“This is an excellent area with great schools,” Whittall said. “We have a few other apartment parcels in the immediate area we are moving forward with as well. In general in Orange County. we have 10,000 multifamily units in development.”

Just south of the Horizon West boundary, Unicorp National Developments is seeking approval for a mixed-use project called Sutton Lakes on 139 acres on Avalon Road that’ll include as many as 300 apartments and as many as 250 single-family homes.

[ Earlier coverage: Unicorp plans mixed-use development with 550 homes near Winter Garden ]

For the single-family housing piece of the concept, Unicorp will prepare the lots and then sell them off to homebuilders.

“The area is in need of more housing,” he told GrowthSpotter in an earlier interview, “and we think this a great opportunity to bring more housing to that area. That whole sector is growing.”

Unicorp is also filling out its nearly 350-acre O-Town West project near Universal theme parks.

The massive mixed-use site is approved for more than 1,500 residential units with retail, dining and office space divided among four sub-districts: Village at O-Town West, The Crossings at O-Town West, the Town Center at O-Town West and the City Center at O-Town West.

Construction is currently underway on two luxury apartment communities here.

The Glass House will total 900 units once all phases are complete within the Village district. Unicorp received a $77 million loan in December of 2020 from Goldman Sachs to finance Phase 1 of the project. It’ll feature a lagoon amenity and a restaurant serving three meals a day. Once open, tenants can order cocktails to sip by the pool.

Work is also underway on The Bentley, a 396-unit midrise apartment community in the town center district. Unicorp received a construction loan totaling $68 million in April 2021 for this project.

The Bentley’s on-site amenity programming will include a resort-style swimming pool with jacuzzi, resident lounge with a coffee bar, a social area featuring billiards and arcade games, a theater room, entertainment lanai with HDTV, ZEN garden with hanging moon chairs and water features, outdoor walking trail, a firepit, 24-hour fitness center with TRX and yoga studio, a conference room, bike rentals, outdoor gaming areas offering cornhole, Jenga and putting green, and electric car charging stations.

Whittall told GrowthSpotter in July that these resort-style residential assets may become a growing part of Unicorp’s portfolio.

In O-Town West, the developer has plans to build another 200-unit community called Eden where rent rates will start in the 3,000 range. Here, residents will feel like they’re living in million-plus dollar homes, Whittall said.

Work crews build key structural elements, begin pouring roofs.

In case you were ever planning to build a nearly $1 billion beachfront condominium and hotel resort, here’s something you’ll need to know about.

Podiums.

No, not for your formal announcement to the media. (Actually, that would be a lectern, but we’ll let the elements of proper word usage slide for now). In this case, a podium is a critical structural piece essential to construction.

At the site of the Residences at St. Regis Resort Longboat Key Resort, crews from Moss and Associates Construction Management have been building podiums for months as new structures begin reaching upward across the property.

In construction parlance, a podium is a “table top” on which projects are built upon, said Natalie Farnella, marketing manager for project developer Unicorp National Developments.

Formed of  20-inch thick reinforced concrete, a podium forms a surface from which further vertical construction can proceed. Below the podium deck, eventually, will be parking areas in the garage level of the condominium buildings on the south side of the property and the hotel and support areas on the north end of the property, she said.

In the most recent update to construction progress, work crews have begun building roof forms for eventual concrete pours on the hotel building closest to the beach and concrete pouring of the roof of the hotel amenities building is underway.

Work crews are nearing the end of foundation work for the hotel and completing the pouring of a hotel building podium east of the beachfront segment.

Condominium foundations, too, are nearly complete. Masonry work is beginning in both the hotel and condominium segments, framers are expected to begin working toward the end of August and underground utilities work has begun.

About 350 workers are shuttled to and from the worksite each day from a mainland staging area.

The condo complex will have 66 units arrayed in three five-story buildings on the south side of the property. The 166-room hotel will be built on the north end, featuring two restaurants, a beach grill and three bars. Additionally, a ballroom with seating for 425 is planned, along with six meeting rooms and two board rooms.

Michael Saunders & Co. is handling the sale of the residential units, though all 66 are spoken for.

Talks have resumed in the complicated road to redevelopment for the Orlando Fashion Square shopping mall, Orlando Business Journal has learned.

In addition, a joint venture between the two main stakeholders may be near. Unicorp President Chuck Whittall told OBJ that discussions are ongoing between his firm, which owns the dirt the Fashion Square mall sits upon, and building owner TBB Orlando LLC — an entity related to Wilmington, Delaware-based The Bancorp Inc. (Nasdaq: TBBK) — which is the tenant of a ground lease with Unicorp National Development Inc. through 2071.

“We’ve been in very productive conversations with the bank which owns the improvements on top of the real estate,” Whittall said. “We believe we’re going to possibly do a joint venture together and are discussing that. We’re in the process of developing plans.”

This represents a significant change in tenor between the two sides, which previously sparred over Unicorp’s planned $1 billion redevelopment of the mall at 3201 E. Colonial Drive — with Bancorp going so far as to submit its own plan for the redevelopment of the property to the city of Orlando.

Bancorp’s plans were submitted last September and signed off on by the city’s municipal planning board in November. City officials confirmed that Bancorp has not taken the next step of submitting a final site plan since that approval.

In addition to owning the dirt beneath the mall, Unicorp had been trying for years to buy the buildings atop it, which Bancorp took control of in 2017 after a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.

Because it owns the buildings, Bancorp could have redeveloped the site itself, but would have to do so with the understanding that everything on the land would become Unicorp’s once the ground lease expires in 2071.

Negotiations between the two sides stalled in 2021 and the matter quieted down after Bancorp’s surprise redevelopment submittal — but now it appears they are working together.

Bancorp executives and Hal Kantor, a Lowndes shareholder and the land-use attorney for Bancorp, couldn’t be reached for comment.

Whittall said the project being discussed would be a “complete redevelopment” of the Fashion Square property, with apartments, bars and restaurants and other uses — with one possible exception. The Macy’s department store may stay, Whittall said, as the store continues to do well and its representatives would like to remain.

Otherwise, Whittall said the redevelopment will involve a pivot from one end of the retail to spectrum to another. “It’s not going to be centered on soft-goods retail — it’s going to be more lifestyle retail focused.”

The talks, which are still in early stages, also involve Orlando-based Baker Barrios Architects Inc. and Raleigh, North Carolina-based civil engineer Kimley-Horn & Associates Inc.

Though the discussions represent a positive indication that the mall’s long-awaited redevelopment may yet happen, Whittall anticipates no movement until next year, at the earliest, due to some of the economic uncertainty that is plaguing the commercial real estate and construction industries.

“We’re waiting to see what the market does,” Whittall said. “Prices are just crazy right now for construction costs.”

The redevelopment of the mall may be a massive economic driver for the city of Orlando and could benefit from favorable demographics in its immediate vicinity, thanks to high population density and affluent residents.

John Crossman, a retail expert and the president of Winter Park-based CrossMarc Services, previously told OBJ that Fashion Square is “one of the greatest potential sites in Central Florida.

Today, we unveil the penultimate group of Orlando Business Journal’s 2022 Fast 50, the fastest-growing companies headquartered in Central Florida.

The annual list recognizes 50 of fastest-growing private companies headquartered Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Lake counties. The firms are ranked based on their percentage of consistent three-year revenue growth, between 2019 and 2021. Information for the fastest-growing companies list was supplied by individual companies through surveys, and not all local companies responded to our inquiries. No third-party submissions are accepted for the Fast 50 List. To participate, companies must be at least 51% privately held and headquartered in Central Florida with all corporate functions originating at this location. Companies cannot be a subsidiary of another company or have private equity investors with more than 51% of the ownership located outside of Central Florida.

See below for the fourth group of 10 companies that made this year’s Fast 50, listed in a random order:

* DynaFire LLC

* RB Marks Construction Inc.

* Advanced IT Concepts Inc.

* KBI Staffing Solutions LLC

* Wharton-Smith Inc.

* R.C. Stevens Construction Co.

* CrossleyShear Wealth Management

* CPH Inc.

* Unicorp National Developments Inc.

* V 3 Capital Group LLC

The first group of winners were announced on July 18, the second group on July 19 and the third group on July 20. We’ll releasing the final listmakers tomorrow, in a random order.

The companies’ rankings and more on this year’s Fast 50 will be published in OBJ’s Sept. 9-15, 2022, weekly edition, as well as online.

Vertical progress on the Residences at St. Regis Resort Longboat Key continues, with the hotel portion of the project gaining height and the condominium buildings not far behind.

Information supplied by Unicorp National Developments Inc. indicates the hotel structure, on the northern side of the property once home to the iconic Colony Beach & Tennis Resort, could be topped out by mid-August. The third floor of five has been poured and workers are now forming the fourth floor in preparation for concrete.

Work on elevated parking continues and the concrete podium for the amenities building, which will be situated in between the condominiums and the hotel, is now complete in preparation for vertical construction.

About 24,000 cubic yards of concrete have been poured (the equivalent of about 2,700 cement trucks), and the project is averaging about 2,500 cubic yards a week. About 60,000 cement blocks have been pre-stocked by Moss and Associates, the general contractor, in preparation for masonry work.

About three-quarters of the concrete footings that tie into foundations have been poured for the condominium buildings and the hotel structure.

About 350 workers are shuttled to and from the worksite each day from a mainland staging area.

The condo complex will have 66 units arrayed in three five-story buildings on the south side of the property. The 166-room hotel will be built on the north end, featuring two restaurants, a beach grill and three bars. Additionally, a ballroom with seating for 425 is planned, along with six meeting rooms and two board rooms.

Town leaders approved the construction of the St. Regis, which will no longer have a 1620 Gulf of Mexico Drive address, in October 2021. A formal groundbreaking ceremony took place days later, not long after the first site work building permit was issued. The grand opening is scheduled for 2024.

Michael Saunders & Co. is handling the condominium sales, which are now complete with a sellout of the available units.

The Longboat Observer publishes periodic updates on progress of the island’s largest construction project. 

A new 2,507-square-foot Huey Magoo’s restaurant is now open in Winter Garden’s The Mark at Horizon West.

The eatery, the 28th in the system across six states, is the 12th Central Florida location that’s either open or set to open soon. The restaurant at 9250 Miley Drive will offer dine-in/out, take out, curbside pickup and third-party delivery service. “Central Florida is where the first Huey Magoo’s opened, and so it’s very exciting to expand our footprint here even more with over 10 stores open now in Orlando,” said President and CEO Andy Howard in a prepared statement.

The chain is famous for its chicken tenders and includes a menu with sandwiches, wraps, salads, fries, cole slaw, cookies and more.

The location will be operated by franchisees Chris and Mckenzie Cohen, who oversee other local Huey Magoo’s sites.

Huey Magoo’s was started in 2004 by local residents Matt “Huey” Armstrong and Thad “Magoo” Hudgens, who sold the concept to the Huey Magoo’s entity for an undisclosed price in 2016, as previously reported by OBJ. Armstrong and Hudgens retained a portion of the company ownership and remain with the concept as franchisees.

New restaurants bring more employment opportunities to the region, including hospitality jobs, as well as temporary construction jobs for new buildings or interior buildout. They also help landlords lease up shopping centers and provide an amenity for existing residents and workers in the area, helping make developing areas more desirable.

Population growth in the Winter Garden area is fueling a need for more dining spots, Colliers Executive Managing Director of Retail Services Jorge Rodriguez, previously told Orlando Business Journal. Growing epicenters such as Walt Disney World’s Flamingo Crossings mixed-use development and Unicorp National Developments Inc.’s The Mark at Horizon West are commanding new tenant activity.

The Mark at Horizon West is a 112,000-square-foot retail neighborhood center developed by Orlando-based Unicorp National Developments Inc. The development’s brochure shows many tenants there, including Starbucks, 7-Eleven, Papa John’s, Walgreens, AdventHealth Centra Care and more.

Longboat Key properties were listed by Tax Collector as delinquent last week.

The developer of Longboat Key’s Residences at the St. Regis Resort Longboat Key delivered a check Tuesday for more than $500,000 to satisfy 2021 financial responsibilities on 244 parcels listed last week by the Sarasota County Tax Collector as delinquent.

Zack Justice, a project coordinator for Unicorp National Developments Inc., said in an email to the Longboat Observer that the accounts were paid in full. The tax collector’s office confirmed receipt, adding the properties should show the updated status on its webpage of accounts heading to tax-certificate auction.

“We delivered a check to Sarasota County this morning to come current on all delinquent taxes,’’ he wrote.

The delinquent properties, published last week, were all former Colony Beach & Tennis Resort parcels, all were listed at 1620 Gulf of Mexico Drive and all listed Unicorp Acquisitions II LLC as the owner.

A majority of the levies ranged from around $1,300 to $3,300, though one parcel listed a tax responsibility of $50,215. According to the Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s Office, the 2021 taxable value, as determined on Jan. 1, for the 244 parcels was $36.3 million. The total amount of taxes owed on the parcels, when added together, totaled $551,827.32.

When contacted last week, Justice said the company had recently learned about the tax-delinquency issue and had “every intention of paying all taxes owed.’’

Property records with the Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s Office show the 244 former Colony properties have been swept away for the 2022 tax year, which began Jan. 1. The land is now broken into five parcels by future residential or resort uses, each under the ownership of SR LBK LLC, a Florida limited liability corporation that lists Unicorp Acquisitions LLC as its manager.

Together, those five parcels’ taxable value was set at about $5.2 million according to the Tax Appraiser records, before construction on the land began in earnest. Builders of the St. Regis project this month received permits for vertical construction, advancing from previous foundation work. Tall gantry cranes are now at work on the property.

Brian Loughrey, the chief deputy tax appraiser with Sarasota County, said the current valuations of the parcels that make up the St. Regis property had no bearing on the past year’s valuations. In October, the 2021 tax roll for that year was certified for collection, ending his office’s involvement for the year, he said.

Rana Moye, a deputy tax collector with Sarasota, said that because the former Colony condominium association was disbanded after the 2021 tax year started, the properties remained officially on that year’s tax roll. She said her office was obligated by state statue to list the properties as delinquent for non-payment.

She confirmed receipt of the taxes, which were due by the end of business on Tuesday.

White Castle is expected to open a takeout-only location and expand its full restaurant’s hours this summer after its first location in Florida since the 1960s rewrote the company’s record books with nearly 5 million sliders sold so far.

The Orlando White Castle set a single-day sales record for the Ohio-based company when it opened near Walt Disney World on May 3 last year, and it’s expected to post a yearly sales record too. The 4,567-square-foot eatery has become the top performer of more than 350 White Castle locations, and it’s on pace to sell 5 million sliders by its anniversary, according to a news release.

Now, the company plans to open an 1,800-square-foot pickup- and delivery-only restaurant just steps away in Unicorp National Developments’ O-Town West project at Palm and Daryl Carter Parkways.

The new space, in a building between Portillo’s Hot Dogs and the existing White Castle, will offer pickup for customers who order online. The space also will cook food delivered through DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub and Postmates.

“The investment in this new space allows us to offer a delivery and pick-up option for customers on the go who are craving convenience,” said Jamie Richardson, White Castle vice president, in an email. “It also allows the existing restaurant to focus on taking care of drive-thru and dine-in customers, as we begin looking to being open 24 hours each day.”

Customers who want to eat inside a dining room or go through the drive-thru still must go to the nearby full restaurant, billed as the world’s largest freestanding White Castle. It is expected this summer to expand to operating 24 hours a day from its current schedule of 7 a.m. to 4 a.m.

It’s been a year of success for the restaurant that opened with drive-thru customers waiting hours in a line that backed up onto Daryl Carter Parkway despite double drive-thru lanes.

Fans aren’t just buying up the burger sliders. White Castle went through 40,000 eggs for its breakfast sliders at the Orlando restaurant, setting another record for the chain.

“Opening a restaurant of this magnitude in any business climate is a challenge – but to do it in an ongoing pandemic, and to succeed, truly illustrates the devotion of the team that has made success possible,” Richardson said. “Most of all, we are thankful for the thousands and thousands of craving fans – whether they’ve been customers for their entire life or are new to White Castle.”

The new takeout and delivery space at O-Town West joins another White Castle ghost kitchen already operating near downtown Orlando.

The downtown restaurant is at 18 N. Dollins Ave. in a ghost kitchen food hall with several restaurants but no dining room.

The Dollins Avenue White Castle briefly opened before the full restaurant in February of last year, but had to temporarily close due to overwhelming demand. It reopened following the restaurant near Walt Disney World.

Orlando Business Journal talked with several of this year’s largest family- and married couple-owned businesses to learn more about what goes into running such a business. Read more about it in OBJ’s April 15-21, 2022, weekly edition.

Here’s more from Chuck Whittall, founder and president of Orlando-based Unicorp National Developments Inc.: Years with company: 24

Has the company’s primary business or services changed through the years? We originally started as a retail developer, and have grown to do mixed-use, multifamily, hotels and office. It was a natural progression of business.

How has the pandemic affected your company? We were determined at the start of the pandemic to do business as usual and not let it ruin our lives and/or our business.

Does everyone in the family have a say in the firm’s finances and future direction? I have the final say.

Will you pass the business along to the next generation? As company continues to grow, my daughter Riley will become involved. We will grow our pool of talent, and Unicorp will thrive long beyond my years.

* Owners: Chuck and Ronna Whittall (married couple)

* Website: unicorp.com

* No. of generational ownerships since founding: One

Diners in the O-Town West development will soon be able to grab a brew from World of Beer Bar & Kitchen before getting their sliders at the nearby record-setting White Castle.

World of Beer, which offers more than 300 beers and 40 rotating taps, is set to open May 17 in a 6,118-square-foot space at 7750 Palm Parkway near Walt Disney World, according to a news release. Unicorp National Developments’ O-Town West project is home to White Castle, which set a single-day sales record for the Ohio-based burger chain when it opened last May. As of December, it was on pace to set a single-year sales record. It is the first White Castle in Florida since the 1960s.

World of Beer also offers customers a bite to eat beyond all its brews, with a menu that includes burgers, a German pretzel and mac and cheese bites.

The chain, founded in Tampa, has other restaurants in downtown Orlando, Clermont and near the University of Central Florida.

Work goes vertical on Longboat Key site of resort and condominiums.

Cranes, cement mixers, workers by the dozens and vertical progress are common sights now on the land soon to be home to the Residences at St. Regis Longboat Key Resort.

The 17.6 beachfront acres have undergone a rapid metamorphosis since permits to begin foundation work were finalized in February. Pilings have been formed on the north building, which will house the five-star hotel. At one point on Monday, six cement mixers were on the site at the same time, with more coming and going.

At the peak of construction, 850 workers are expected on site, most bused in from an off-site staging area. Meals are also provided on site.

Unicorp National Development Inc. plans to develop 69 condo units and 166 hotel units along with restaurants and other public facilities, many of them open to the public. It’s been nearly three years since the buildings and other structures of the Colony resort were torn down on the land. Moss Construction Management is shepherding the project.

The company has set a tentative opening date of June 6, 2024, for the $800 million project. The roof is expected to go on the first building late this year.

Benderson Development Co., the Manatee County-based company behind Sarasota’s University Town Center development, is building new retail and housing near the Fruitville Public Library.

Building permit applications filed with Sarasota County throughout the past few months show plans for development along Lakewood Ranch Boulevard south of Apex Road. The Benderson-owned parcel is on either side of the intersection and part of it reaches up to Fruitville Road, across Lakewood Ranch Boulevard from the Fruitville library. Permit applications show plans for a grocery store and multifamily housing, however, at this point, no development applications or building permits have been approved for the site, Sarasota County spokeswoman Brianne Grant said. Site work appears to be underway on the parcel on the east side of Lakewood Ranch Boulevard.

Julie Fanning, director of marketing at Benderson, said the project is still in the planning phase, and the company is not ready to share more details at this time.

The new site is the latest development in the corridor east of I-75 on Fruitville Road. Fruitville Commons, which is in the northeast corner of the intersection, is the furthest along, with a luxury apartment enclave called Citria as well as restaurants and retail stores.

Next to Fruitville Commons, Orlando-based Unicorp National Development is planning a mixed-use project called Southwood Village. The most recent site plan includes more than 100,000 square feet of retail, including Wawa and Crunch Fitness and 364 luxury apartments.

And in the southeast corner of Fruitville and I-75, two separately-owned parcels recently came under new ownership. Sarasota Business Plaza LLLP sold 581,772 square feet of land to the Collier Companies, a Gainesville-based apartment developer, for $5.4 million last summer. The same entity also sold 654,890 square feet to the Sarasota-based Starling Group for $5 million in February, according to county records.

Redevelopment of the part of Fruitville Road east of I-75 is being encouraged by Sarasota County through the Fruitville Initiative, a critical area plan approved by county commissioners in 2014.

The goal of the initiative is to encourage economic development on 420 acres along both sides of Fruitville Road east of I-75 and create a gateway into the Sarasota community.

There is a tentative opening date for the hotel, which is currently June 6, 2024.

The event brought in $90,000, while direct donations from attendees brought in another $30,000.

There was no shortage of green at the March 17 meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Longboat Key.

Club members celebrated St. Patrick’s Day by wearing green and took the day to tie up the final count of the funds brought in from the Lawn Party in December. At the meeting, the club officially passed along its $90,000 check to Children’s Guardian Fund.

“We’re excited to be doing the rewarding of the green today,” club President Michael Garey said.

All told, the club brought in more than $120,000 for the organization, which helps local children in foster care and focuses on getting them tutoring. Funds from the Lawn Party, sponsorships, matches and direct donations from Lawn Party attendees made up the total. Previously, a Lawn Party had brought in about $60,000, said Kiwanis Foundation chair Bob Gault.

“It’s a proud and great day for our club,” Garey said.

To celebrate, Garey invited the event’s biggest sponsors to come for breakfast, including Cynthia Craig and Ken Schneier and Jim Brown from the Longboat Key Foundation. Chuck Whittall, CEO of Unicorp National Developments, which is building the Residences at the St. Regis Longboat Key Resort, was the platinum sponsor and provided a brief update on the construction project.

He hopes to make the St. Regis property a part of the community for events to come.

“We’re happy to be part of this and part of the community, and we will keep doing this,” Whittall said.

Craig is a guardian ad litem with Children’s Guardian Foundation and works with the foster children in the program. There are about 1,200 children in the local foster system and Children’s Guardian Fund works primarily with children in the care of relatives rather than in licensed foster care, as relatives receive less of a subsidy to care for the children and often struggle to do so.

“The children, when they get to school, they start out behind,” Craig said. “If you can imagine a race, and here’s the starting line, they’re not even in the parking lot. So we have come to recognize that the best thing we can do for these kids is to provide academic tutoring one-on-one, to get them up to speed as fast as we can. It has been a phenomenally successful program and until now, we always had more requests for tutoring than we could pay for. Now we can pay for everybody who wants it and needs it, and we don’t have to cut it off. If the child is participating and trying, we’ll keep going as long as the child needs it, and it’s all because of you.”

Construction crews are expected to make progress on the St. Regis development, Sage condos and the Town Center stage.

It’s no secret that the population size of Longboat Key triples during snowbird season.

Although it might seem busier on the island, it’s not just the returning snowbirds who are making it a bit busier. There are several developments underway and others planned in the coming months.

Here is a look at many of Longboat Key’s major construction projects:

St. Regis development

Work officially began on Oct. 25 to build the five-star St. Regis Hotel and luxury condominium complex at 1620 Gulf of Mexico Drive. The project is worth about $800 million.

As many as 800 workers at once are expected to be at the 17.6-acre beachfront site to finish the project by spring 2024.

In October, the Longboat Key Town Commission provided its final approval of the site development plan and the planned-unit development application.

Orlando-based developer Unicorp National Developments Corp. plans to build 69 condo units and 166 hotel units along with restaurants and other facilities, many of them open to the public.

Advertised prices for the St. Regis’ residential units range from $2 million to $20 million.

There are expected to be about 468 total parking spaces, of which there will be 62 mechanical vehicle lifts in the hotel’s valet garage.

It’s been about three years since the demolition of the former Colony Resort’s buildings and other structures.

Sage condos

Luxury condominiums are also coming to 4651 Gulf of Mexico Drive. Sage occupies the site of the former Sun ‘n’ Sea Cottages & Apartments.

PMG and Sarasota-based Floridays Development Co. are the property’s developers, while the architect is Sarasota-based Hoyt Architects.

Sage is building 16 condos in a four-story building at the 3.18-acre site. Prices start at $4 million.

The four-story Sage will have units that range from 3,950 to 4,250 square feet. Each residence will have 12-foot ceilings, 8-foot entry doors, floor-to-ceiling windows, marble and wood flooring, Italian cabinetry, multiple parking spaces in their garages and a private elevator.

Sage plans to create 39 parking spots.

In the fall, Sun N Sea, Inc. sold the 3.4-acre resort for $13.25 million.

Completion of Sage is expected in 2022.

Town Center stage

The town-owned site at 600 Bay Isles Road is getting a long-anticipated, 50-foot-wide stage.

In December, Town Commissioners approved calling the to-be-built centerpiece of the Town Center Green the Karon Family Pavilion. Residents Paul and Sarah Karon are donating $500,000 to the Longboat Key Foundation to fund the structure’s construction.

Events planned at the Town Center site will operate around stage construction.

If all goes according to plan, the new stage could be ready in time for next year’s snowbird season.

Crosswalk improvements

The Florida Department of Transportation is planning to bring two new styles of crosswalks in the next two years to Gulf of Mexico Drive. The state wants to monitor before and after peak-season results by:

Adding in-roadway lighting at GMD and Longboat Club Road near the Country Club Shores IV North entrance. FDOT said it would cost about $76,800 for construction, which could start this fiscal year.

Replacing an existing rectangular rapid flashing beacon with a new pedestrian hybrid beacon at GMD at Bayfront Park. FDOT said it would cost about $352,500 for construction, which could start in fiscal year 2023.

While the proposed crosswalk near Bayfront Park would have red lights to get cars to stop for pedestrians crossing the street, the lights in front of the Country Club Shores IV North entrance would remain yellow.

In October, FDOT Senior Project Manager Walter Breuggeman explained why rectangular rapid flashing beacons can’t use red lights. Breuggeman said RRFBs are a proprietary product to serve as an advanced warning to drivers to yield to pedestrians.

A switch to a red-light system would require changing out the town’s six RRFB crosswalks to a pedestrian hybrid beacon system, which was formerly known as high-intensity activated crosswalk, or HAWK system.

The town of Longboat Key has six RRFB pedestrian crossings along GMD:

• Country Club Shores Phase IV (North entrance) and Longboat Club Road (North entrance);
• Just north of the Diplomat and Turtle Coffee Bar;
• Bayfront Park;
• Banyan Bay Club just north of Sandham Place (5200 block of GMD);
• North of Companion Way at Cedars West (5600 block GMD); and
• Between Broadway Street and North Shore Road.

Design work is also underway for a proposed roundabout at GMD and Broadway Street.

In January, the Manatee County Commission plans to consider contributing $150,000 for the design of the Broadway roundabout project. If Manatee County commissioners vote against the measure, the town would have to pay for the entire design cost of about $300,000.

SB Architects, an international architecture firm celebrated for creating spaces that capture the history, culture, and context of each location, reveals the design for The St. Regis Longboat Key Resort and Residences, a new resort community nestled in the beautiful white sands of the Gulf of Mexico. Situated on a barrier island outside of Sarasota, Florida, The St. Regis Longboat Key is scheduled to break ground in fall 2021 and will deliver luxury seaside living with the amenities and service of a world-class, five-star resort upon opening in spring 2024. Developed by Unicorp National Developments, the elegant 166-room resort and 69 private luxury condominiums will be distinguished both for the property’s architectural expression and the level of luxury that the St. Regis brand will bring to the locale. SB Architects is working alongside Hirsch Bedner Associates Miami (HBA), Marc-Michaels Interior Design, and Enea Landscape Design to bring the vision to life.

Comprised mostly of glass, the buildings feature clean lines, fine detailing, and soaring floor-to-ceiling windows that draw in natural light and showcase stunning coastal views.

An immersive experience begins the moment guests and residents arrive, as they enter through a canopy of jacaranda trees. Inside, an entry corridor enhances the view to the ocean through an immersive, barrel-vaulted digital ceiling, where ambient lighting reflects the sky’s spectacular sunset colors daily. Projectors display graceful birds across the ceiling intermittently, capturing a sense of movement and bringing the outdoor environment inside.

In addition to drawing inspiration from dance-like moments in nature, including the skillful flight of birds along the shore, the resort interiors by HBA honor Sarasota’s culture and history by gesturing toward the intersection of circus and dance. Sarasota is renowned for its performing arts – including The Sarasota Ballet – and for its circus heritage, owing to circus impresario John Ringling, who so loved Sarasota that he chose it for the winter quarters of Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey. Showcasing a clean and natural palette of colors, the contemporary interiors leverage these local insights in subtle touches, such as rope-like chandeliers suspended from the ceiling; an oval-shaped ballroom inspired by aerial rings; and in the St. Regis Bar, a center feature latticed like a circus cage rising into the ceiling.

In the guestroom corridor, carpet patterns are reminiscent of local ocean currents while flowy drapes drawn over artworks and dramatic lighting add an element of theatrical surprise. Resort guestrooms and luxury residences offer unobstructed views of the ocean, with glass railings creating seamless connections between the outdoor living spaces and natural surroundings. Guestrooms feature wood paneling in the living area and subtle touches of color. Careful layering of materials, such as ceiling paneling with wood grain on the underside of the exterior balconies, complements the natural palette in the interiors and adds a sense of warmth to the architectural expression.

The resort features a 20,000 square foot St. Regis Signature Spa, a salt-water lagoon with live fish and sea life, and an open-air Sunset Bar overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, in addition to a meandering drift stream, heated infinity edge pool, beachside event lawns, and business meeting facilities. The private condominiums – ranging from approximately 1,500 to nearly 6,000 square feet – comprise three six-story buildings and offer residents access to the amenities at St. Regis Resort & Spa, in addition to their own dedicated private amenities, including a waterfront pool and spa with a privacy sundeck and Resident’s Clubhouse featuring a world-class Wellness Center with meditation and yoga studios. Each residence will feature expansive terraces – some with infinity edge plunge pools – and a secured private access elevator opening directly into the residence.

Continued population in-migration and strong metrics are pushing apartment development and investment to new heights along the Gulf Coast.

Despite continued COVID-19-related uncertainties and questions about economic sustainability, apartment developers and investors along the Gulf Coast are surging ahead with new projects and purchases.

As the pandemic continues to be brought under control in Florida, multifamily rental developers are proceeding with a slew of new offerings throughout the region — projects that will result in thousands of new units.

“The market along the Gulf Coast of Florida is very strong right now, and multifamily rentals in general have been the beneficiary of COVID-19-influenced in-migration into the state,” says Keith Gelder, president of Stock Luxury Apartment Living, which has built upscale apartment complexes in Naples and Fort Myers.

The division of Naples-based Stock Development has projects either under construction or planned in Sarasota, St. Petersburg, Naples, Estero and Wesley Chapel, which will deliver roughly 1,600 units.

“That in-migration has increased rents and lowered vacancies, which then has a ripple effect on new product,” Gelder adds.

The company’s 300-unit Citria complex in Sarasota, part of a 50-acre mixed-use development under construction, illustrates the trend.

Typically, Stock will sign 20 or 25 leases per month on a new project when marketing begins, Gelder says. At Citria, the company signed more than 100 leases in its first month of marketing.

“It shows the level of demand and the lack of availability,” Gelder says.

At the same time, investors are collectively pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into apartment acquisitions, property records show.

Irvine, California-based Passco Cos. is one such active investor. Last month, the company spent $92.9 million to buy the 338-unit Altis Promenade complex in Lutz.

The community, which features a series of four-story buildings developed by Boca Raton-based Altman Cos., was completed last year.

“The property is as elegant as it gets,” says Colin Gillis, vice president of acquisitions at Passco. “It’s over-amenitized and it has something for everyone: an unbelievable swimming pool, game rooms, gardens, over-the-top fitness center and a killer playground.

“It’s in a suburban area with good schools, and its access to Westshore is unrivaled,” Gillis adds. “Altis Promenade is, I’d have to say, the crown jewel of our Tampa-area portfolio.”

In all, Passco owns a handful of projects from Tampa to Sarasota. Statewide, its portfolio contains 15 apartment properties.

The Gulf Coast developments and the buying spree come in response to ongoing stellar in-migration and job growth data through Central and Southwest Florida, and to single-family home price hikes that have outpaced inflation and wage growth.

The influx of new residents and the widening home affordability gap, in turn, have pushed apartment vacancies down to historically low numbers in the Tampa Bay area, especially, and rental growth rates to record highs.

At Altis Promenade, for instance, occupancy is at 98%, Gillis says.

Additionally, apartment projects are increasingly attractive to buyers because they tend to be better hedges against inflation than many other investments or real estate classes, experts say.

In the first half of this year, for instance, the average multifamily rental vacancy in Tampa fell below 5% for the first time ever, pushed along by the absorption of more than 5,000 units in the first six months of 2021, according to data collected by commercial real estate research firm CoStar Group.

At the same time, buoyed by that first-half performance and demand outpacing supply, rental rates in Tampa rose by 15% during the second quarter ended June 30, CoStar notes — the highest amount in the U.S. and a percentage that far outpaces the national average.

“Rents have been moving like crazy in Tampa,” Gillis says.

Those fundamentals, in turn, have drawn developers eager to capitalize on the trendlines.

Orlando-based Unicorp National Developments Inc. has nine multifamily rental projects underway, including a 354-unit complex in Lakewood Ranch.

Sota 75, which is being financed with a $75.2 million construction loan from Trez Capital, like Citria is part of a larger, mixed-use development, Southwood Village.

Unicorp expects to complete the complex around the end of next year.

“The state of Florida is very strong right now from a multifamily rental demand perspective,” says Chuck Whittall, Unicorp’s president and CEO. “Apartments are a very big part of our business and they’re very good investments.”

Passco is one of many companies that have either entered the Gulf Coast market or added to their portfolios regionally of late.

The Praedium Group, of New York, last month purchased the Crest at Bonita Springs complex in Lee County with a $69.95 million investment. The 264-unit project, completed late last year two miles north of Naples, contains seven garden-style buildings.

“What used to be considered ‘snowbird’ cities have now proven themselves to be year-round destinations that have attracted residents because of the higher quality of life and lower cost of living,” says Chris Hughes, a Praedium Group principal and its co-chief investment officer.

Elsewhere in Bonita Springs, Naples-based TerraCap Management recently acquired the Versol Apartments, a 240-unit complex completed in 2019, for $70.35 million, and in Naples, an affiliate of New York’s Blackstone Group spent $80.5 million to buy the Milano Lakes apartments. That 296-unit community was completed in 2018, records show.

Gelder says much of the development and investment interest derives from a continued and growing number of “renters by choice” — primarily empty-nesters and seasonal residents who favor the amenities and carefree lifestyle apartments offer.

“As a result, the pool of renters is expanding,” says Gelder. “Multifamily has proven to be a very resilient asset class, and COVID-19 only accentuated that. It’s why we believe in apartments as a sector for the long term.”

Stock Luxury’s current pipeline of projects will keep the firm in development through at least the end of 2023, he says.

Passco’s Gillis also believes in the long-term sustainability of the multifamily rental market along the Gulf Coast.

“The greater Tampa area is my favorite place in the state to look for apartment projects,” Gillis says. “Everything is firing on all cylinders there right now, all the metrics. And best of all, I think it’s got a long way left to run.”

The New York Beer Project is expanding again with plans for two more locations, including one in Orchard Park and another a bit further south.

A location in Winter Park, Fla., an Orlando suburb, has been under development since early 2020 and is projected to open in March. It’s part of a $49 million retail center called the Mark at Horizon West, a project by Florida developer Unicorp National Developments Inc. That will be followed in 2023 with the Orchard Park site — NYBP-OP — at Sterling Park on a nine-acre wooded parcel off Windward Road off Route 219, about a mile away from Highmark Stadium. Other companies in the park include Mentholatum, Bryant & Stratton College and several medical offices.

Kelly Krupski, who co-owns NYBP with husband Kevin, said the Florida site is one of 10 concepts planned for the development, which will serve a community of about 40,000 people who have few dining options outside of tourist spots surrounding Walt Disney World.

“We feel like just like with Lockport and Victor, there were a lot of people that kind of needed us, a place to gather after work for a beer,” she said. “We’re there not as much for the tourists as we’re there for the hard-working people who live there.”

Plans in Winter Park call for a buildout costing $2 million to $3 million for the 24,000-square-foot restaurant with a brewery, taproom, gastropub and three second-floor private events space.

That’s even bigger than the company’s flagship site at 6933 S. Transit Road in Lockport, where the Krupskis opened their 17,000-square-foot, 120-seat gastropub/microbrewery in 2015. A second beer hall in the Rochester suburb of Victor followed in 2019 near the Eastview Mall.

Krupski said the banquet rooms at the new spot will be themed to reflect New York City, including a botanical garden room, a room replicating the Rainbow Room; and the third with a décor reminiscent of a barn on the Hudson River, offering a more rustic space.

What makes the upstairs banquet space even more unique is the view: The space overlooks the nightly fireworks at Disney. Krupski, who leases a condo nearby, says she’s a big fan of founder Walt Disney, and has chronicled his life and success that led to the growth of the City of Orlando.

“I’m a fanatic of his,” she said.

She’s also a fan of the workforce that makes all that magic happen, and that’s the customer base she hopes to target at the new space.

“We just came back yesterday, and so many people were excited when you walk around with a New York Beer Project T-shirt, so the buzz is there,” she said.

Construction was initially supposed to start in July.

Unicorp CEO Chuck Whittall wishes construction could start sooner on The Residences at The St. Regis Longboat Key Resort.

The Orlando-based developer’s initial plans had called for a July groundbreaking.

“It’s extremely disappointing,” Whittall said. “We’ve been working on this project for eight and a half years and I would love to have gotten it in this session.”

Whittall said he hopes construction can start in October. On Monday, Whittall said crews would be ready to start work in four weeks if the town had already approved the proposed changes.

The Longboat Key Town Commission is set to take its annual summer recess following the July 2 regular meeting. Commissioners are not set to meet again until Sept. 13.

“We are finally at the point where we’re ready to start this and the changes that we’re making are very, very, very minor, but they still have to go to the commission,” Whittall said.

First, the Longboat Key Planning and Zoning Board has set a special meeting date for Sept. 17 to hear the St. Regis amendment application. If the P&Z Board approves the proposal, it will then appear before the Town Commission.

Planning, Zoning and Building Director Allen Parsons said the Town Commission would likely schedule its own special meetings for October.

“The staff sense is that this probably ought to be on its own agenda,” Town Manager Tom Harmer told commissioners on June 21. “It’s a big enough project, and in the past, it’s been held as a single item.”

In May, Unicorp and engineering consultants Kimley-Horn finalized a 552-page application about the proposed changes.

Specifically, Unicorp plans to reduce the number of residential units at the facility from 78 to 69 units. Also, two of the 69 units in the condominium portion of the property would be available for occupancy for less than 30 consecutive calendar days or one calendar month, whichever is less.

The development still plans to have 166 hotel rooms for a total of 235 units.

Unicorp is also proposing some changes to height around elevator shafts on the roof and some levels of public-space occupancy.

“What we’re doing is non-controversial,” Whittall said. “They’re minor changes.”

In April, town commissioners approved Town Attorney Maggie Mooney’s request to have special legal counsel serve town staff as it deals with the proposed changes to the St. Regis development. Jennifer Cowan with the Tampa-based law firm of Bryant Miller Olive is set to fill in for Mooney as it pertains to the St. Regis public hearings.

Retaining Cowan allows Mooney to avoid any potential conflict of interest. Harmer said the town had also hired outside counsel when commissioners approved Unicorp’s initial plan in March 2018.

Unicorp will own the 17.6-acre property at 1620 Gulf of Mexico Drive, and the Marriott & Co. will manage it under the St. Regis banner.

Whittall said Unicorp has sold 80% of its residential units, which has surpassed the developer’s goal to have 50% sold by the time construction started.

Units range from about 1,500 square feet to nearly 6,000 and from one bedroom, one-and-one-half baths to four bedrooms, five-and-one-half baths.

“I would hope the town is excited to see this project underway,” Whittall said.

Winter Garden land along Colonial Drive may soon transform into commercial space as the fast-growing city continues to expand west.

Applicant RCE Consultants LLC discussed with the city of Winter Garden on June 9 a plan to transform 4.3 acres at 14909 W. Colonial Drive into roughly 41,900 square feet of office and other commercial space, according to Winter Garden records obtained by Orlando Business Journal through a records request. A project cost estimate wasn’t known.

A jaw-dropping scheme to build a 166-room St Regis resort and 69 ultra-luxe private condominiums on a prime beachfront site has been crowned our latest Project of the Week.

Marriott International’s prestigious luxury brand St Regis has a spectacular spot in Longboat Key, off the west coast of mainland Florida, firmly in its sights for its latest outpost.

An extraordinary new hotel for Longboat Key

Located on the site of the former Colony Beach & Tennis Resort, The St Regis Hotel Longboat Key is expected to feature 166 elegant rooms and a variety of attractive F&B venues, including signature chef-driven steak and seafood restaurant CW Prime, classically inspired St Regis Piano Bar and all-day dining venue The St Regis Grille. The property will also boast its very own spa, salt-water lagoon, stream, heated infinity-edge pool and adults-only pool.

It’s envisaged that this newbuild five-star hotel will be able to host a variety of private events. Besides The Astor Ballroom, the scheme will incorporate a manicured beachside event lawn and extensive business meeting facilities, with every detail handled by meticulous event planners.

The project’s high-powered design team includes the likes of SB Architects, HBA and ENEA Landscape Architecture. Last week, SB Architects announced the appointment of vice president and principal Pinar Harris, who is leading the design for the St Regis Hotel Longboat Key.

A residence like no other

Alongside the hotel, there’ll be 66 condominiums split across three six-story buildings. Residents will have access to the facilities at The St Regis Hotel Longboat Key, but can also enjoy their own dedicated private amenities, such as a pool and spa with sundeck, wellness center and clubhouse.

Developer Unicorp National Developments, together with real-estate services provider Michael Saunders & Company, opened sales for The Residences at The St Regis Longboat Key Resort to the public in the summer of 2020.

The St Regis Hotel Longboat Key is scheduled to open in Q3 2023.

ST. PETERSBURG — The city reached another milestone Friday on its path to redeveloping the Tropicana Field site, an 86-acre project that has the potential to alter the fabric of downtown St. Petersburg. Eight companies vying to be the “master developer” of the site, who would oversee all work toward one cohesive vision, submitted their proposals.

Friday’s deadline closes out a five month bidding window, and represents the first time city development officials within Mayor Rick Kriseman’s administration get a glimpse of what construction and planning experts in the private sector believe can be built upon that site, and at what cost.

Now, Mayor Rick Kriseman’s administration will sift through the documents in a winnowing period likely to take months, where the city will negotiate with finalists over dollars and project priorities. One of Kriseman’s last significant acts as mayor before he leaves office in January 2022 could be selecting a project.

For now, most of the proposals remain with the city, out of public view, while they’re reviewed by city lawyers and development officials. They could be released next week.

One proposal comes from Orlando’s Unicorp National Developments, whose Orlando-area projects include: ICON Park, anchored by the 400-foot-tall Ferris wheel dubbed the Wheel; O-Town West, an upcoming $1 billion mixed-use project situated between Walt Disney World and SeaWorld; and a planned $1 billion open-air redevelopment of the Orlando Fashion Square mall.

Unicorp’s proposal features a network of parks and greenspaces built around an expanded Booker Creek and the Pinellas Trail, as well as a 400-room hotel, 70,000-square-foot conference center, 155,000 square feet of office space and around 6,000 parking spaces. The proposal also says Unicorp has “reached out to several colleges and universities that have shown interest in establishing satellite campuses” on the site.”

Unicorp president Chuck Whittall said a good comparison to what his company has proposed is the popular River Walk area in San Antonio, Texas.

“I think we have presented something completely special,” Whittall said. “If the city is looking for something completely dense, we are not the right developer. We are really trying to design a community. I urged my team the whole way through this, ‘Do not think of this as a development project. Think of this as building a community.’”

While the fate of the Trop’s main tenant, the Tampa Bay Rays, remains uncertain, the city asked developers to envision the project with and without a baseball stadium. Unicorp’s plan would cost $643 million without a stadium, Whittall said, and well over $1 billion with one. The company has requested $100 million in tax incremental funding from the city to be spent on parks, the arts and other public uses. With or without a stadium, the company said development could wrap by 2029.

That timeline will only be possible if the city can get cooperation from the Rays, whose future is inextricably tied to that of the development project.

The team’s lease of the stadium runs through the 2027 season, during which time the team is prohibited from playing home games anywhere else. In exchange for that exclusivity, the Rays are entitled to half the revenue generated by the property through the lease term, and they have a say over what construction can occur.

But the Rays want out of the Trop, an obsolete and dated venue, early, and to fully and freely explore their novel idea of splitting their season between home stadiums in the Tampa Bay area and Montreal, and to do so prior to 2027. Kriseman has said he will not waive the exclusivity clause in the Trop lease. In response, the team has said it can hold up development in court.

It’s difficult to overstate the importance of the parcel for St. Petersburg. City and community leaders speak of the Trop project in “transformational” terms: a flat, publicly-owned contiguous parcel that spans more than 21 square blocks on the edge of an active and growing downtown. Development officials say there are few, if any, urban parcels like it in the country.

But in addition to the complications involving the Rays, whomever wins the bid to shepherd the project through will have to navigate a thicket of other issues.

While the stadium’s vast blacktop parking lot will keep demolition and site clearing costs low, it also represents what some consider to be a grave injustice to the city’s Black community.

The Gas Plant District, a working class and predominantly Black neighborhood that surrounded a natural gas production facility, was razed in the 1980s to make way for what was then called the Florida Suncoast Dome. The city offered fair market value to property owners, displacing families, businesses churches and schools that had underpinned that neighborhood for decades. For those who refused to sell, the city claimed their land through eminent domain.

The justification was always that a new baseball stadium would attract a team, and around it would sprout economic growth that would benefit the residents it displaced. But that prosperity never materialized, and the new development bears the responsibility of delivering on that promise, and honoring the Gas Plant’s history and sacrifice.

“Quite frankly, the area around it, the neighbors felt like they got taken advantage of,” Whittall said. “We thought the best way to give back to the community was to give something the entire community could use. That’s why we designed our entire proposal around the park and gathering spaces, and things that we felt would benefit the community.”

Further, the winning developer will have to contend with environmental concerns surrounding Booker Creek and address a potential forgotten cemetery on a corner of the site.

Site preparation and clearing has begun for The Mark, a new plaza being constructed by Unicorp along Siedel Road in Horizon West. The Mark features a variety of popular businesses that will be beneficial for Horizon West.

One of the most anticipated is New York Beer Project, which will feature a wide variety of beers and offer a unique location for nearby residents to enjoy. Unicorp is a well-known developer in the region and has developed the some well-known plazas, including ICON Orlando complex and the upcoming O-Town West plaza.

A large list of tenants is already committed to The Mark according to Unicorp’s brochure for the plaza. Tenants include New York Beer Project, The Learning Experience, 7-11, Centra Care, and Walgreens. Food establishments also include Jeremiah’s Italian Ice, Papa John’s, O’Ryu Sushi, and Ahlambra Restaurant. Other tenants include Heatland Dental, AT&T Store, and Encore Nail Spa. In addition, a wine/liquor store and a coffee franchise are listed in the site plan, but no brand name is listed.

Unicorp held a groundbreaking ceremony for The Mark on November 3 and indicates the plaza will be open for Summer 2021.

Chuck Whittall played a key role in creating the safety protocol for reopening Orange County businesses, and he’s “bullish” on the area’s recovery. “I hear people say, ‘This is the new norm,’ and I tell them, ‘No, this is not the new norm. This is a temporary abnormality,’ ” says the longtime developer.

Whittall served as chairman of the reopening committee that was part of the Orange County Economic Recovery Task Force created in April by Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings. “It gave me quite a voice,” he says. Developing a phased approach with safety guidelines including masks, hand sanitizers and social distancing—and getting businesses onboard—“was the right thing to do to save Central Florida businesses.”

Whittall, who brought The Wheel  and StarFlyer attractions to International Drive, is moving ahead on $3 billion worth of development projects. “We’re very bullish,” he says. “I’m confident the [coronavirus] vaccine will be out at the end of this year or the beginning of next year.” After that, he says, “We’re going to see our economy skyrocket because of pent-up demand.”

In August, Unicorp broke ground on O-Town West, a $1 billion project in Orlando’s Dr. Phillips area that will include a Publix, restaurants, shops, 1,400 apartments and the corporate headquarters of Marriott Vacations Worldwide.

Whittall is also moving forward with the redevelopment of Orlando’s languishing Fashion Square Mall, which hit some pandemic snags. “Humpty Dumpty broke down, and we’re having to put it back together again,” he says. The $1 billion project will include high-rise apartments, a hotel, a grocery store, offices, stores, restaurants, a day care center, a fitness center and a resort for pets. He hopes to start construction during the first or second quarter of 2021.

He believes the timing is perfect for his book being released in December—Perseverance: Broke to Billions: Barriers in Business and Strategies to Remove Them. “It’s a great title for the season we’re in. That’s what we’ve had to do—persevere through this. Everybody from every walk of life is having to persevere through this. At times like this, everybody wants encouragement that things are going to be okay.”

White Castle is opening a restaurant near Disney in Orlando.

White Castle’s hamburger sliders are still coming to Orlando even with the impact coronavirus is having on the restaurant industry.

The Columbus-based company said it is working to submit plans to local officials in the next couple of weeks to bring the chain back to Florida after leaving the state in the 1960s.

“Long-term we are looking forward to marching forward and opening our first White Castle in Florida and Orlando sometime in the first few months of next year,” said Jamie Richardson, White Castle’s vice president of government and shareholder relations.

The 4,500-square-foot restaurant is planned for the O-Town West development on Daryl Carter Parkway near Disney World. Developer Chuck Whittall confirmed that both White Castle and popular Chicago restaurant Portillo’s are going ahead at the site.

“White Castle is pushing us along,” he said.

A spokeswoman for Portillo’s said the restaurant “is excited to come to Lake Buena Vista, but we do not have an update at this time.”