An important piece of the Satellite Beach development puzzle is now in place for the future with the rebirth of Doubles Beachside, an iconic local eatery.
The restaurant ended a 35-year run at 1896 South Patrick Dr. in Indian Harbour Beach on June 28 when Zon Beachside Assisted Living and Memory Care, located next door, purchased Doubles Beachside to use its lot for a two-story, nearly 30,000-square-foot expansion currently under construction.
Doubles’ new home on the site of a March 16 groundbreaking ceremony is located about two miles away on State Road A1A at Desoto Parkway. The property originally was the Pegleg’s Seafood Restaurant at 1604 A1A and the Corinthian Apartments at 1612 A1A. Both properties fell into disrepair and, in 2006, the Satellite Beach Community Redevelopment (CRA) purchased the properties, razed the buildings and cleared the land.
The lot was purchased as a way to keep out less-desirable gas stations or other high-traffic businesses which would negatively impact nearby neighborhoods, said Satellite Beach Mayor Frank Catino, who attended the groundbreaking.
“We’ve owned this property a long time. We didn’t want a gas station on that property because that’s not what our citizens wanted. We held it until the right project came along that would work out. The restaurant is very community-oriented. With it right by the beach, this is going be a great spot for people to walk or ride their bikes here,’’ he said.
On Feb. 19, 2019, the properties were sold to Doubles Hoagies, Inc. as their new home for the restaurant. The buildout by Certified General Contractors is anticipated to take about six months, officials said.
Doubles Beachside debuted in 1983 as a hoagie shop near South Patrick and Banana River drives and later expanded across the street – its 15,000-square-foot 2.0 version – in a portion of the former Pines Resort.
The new 5,500-square-foot 3.0 version of Doubles will feature a drive-through and 15 parking spaces for public use. There also are several “green” stipulations including partial solar power and 15 parking spaces for public use.
Doubles original owner Ray Featherhoff was nearly overwhelmed by the well wishes at the groundbreaking ceremony attended by more than 100.
“I’m humbled. You start off selling sandwiches and 40 years later I’m impressed that the community would turn out for this. I’m going to help them get going. Hopefully I’ll be able to help them get started, get staffed up and trained up,” he said.
