Trader Joe’s buys Chuck Whittall’s Slate restaurant for record deal
Trader Joe’s has purchased a 17,121-square-foot building in the Dr. Phillips area that had two tenants: the popular grocery story and Slate, a Restaurant Row eatery that closed its doors in January.
Unicorp National Developments sold the property at 8323 Sand Lake Road to the California-based grocery store chain for $14 million, or about $817 per square foot — a deal Unicorp CEO Chuck Whittall believes is the biggest sale per square foot in Central Florida. “I don’t think you’ll find anything that sold higher per square foot than what that property sold for.”
“Trader Joe’s came to us five to six months ago and said they’re doing so well on Sand Lake Road that they wanted to expand into Slate,” said Whittall, who also owned the restaurant, explaining why Slate closed in January. “It was something we couldn’t pass up.”
The 2.57-acre property was sold to Unicorp for $2.75 million in 2013 before the building’s construction was finished.
Executives with Trader Joe’s couldn’t be reached for comment prior to publication.
The space previously had high demand for parking, with Trader Joe’s customers having to fight for space with the now-defunct restaurant.
“It’s logical. … When you look at the sites they’re in [in Orlando], they’re both parking disasters so they need parking solutions. It’s logical that if they’re doing well and they’re committed to the market, but there absolutely is a parking issue … it’s the right call,” said John Crossman, president of CrossMarc Services in Winter Park, who is not involved in the deal. “To see Trader Joe’s taking the steps to cure a problem — I like that a lot.”
Since properties like this have become a good investment, an expert told OBJ grocers may see owning their own space as a more attractive option. “Grocery stores, in general, they used to like to lease … Now they want to own. It’s become very profitable to own the real estate themselves,” said Al Fishalow, director of NAI Realvest in Orlando, who also is not involved with the Trader Joe’s deal.
Meanwhile, Unicorp wants to expand Restaurant Row by redeveloping the nearby Valley Bank site on Sand Lake Road and Dr. Phillips Boulevard for more restaurants and a new Valley Bank office, said Whittall.
The move is still in the permitting process, but Whittall said the plan is to redevelop the area for more density to allow for more restaurants while keeping a spot for the New Jersey-based bank.