The rebirth of U.S. 1 between 20th Street and 8th Street is continuing with new construction at Kmart Plaza, new restaurants circling to land and two powerhouse convenience store brands making their debuts.
It is all part of a domino effect, as redevelopment that began in 2015 along the commercial stretch is attracting more development, according to Billy Moss, a broker with Lambert Commercial Real Estate in Vero Beach. “When national brands see what is happening here, they get interested,” Moss said.
The big news in the restaurant sector is Moe’s Southwest Grill and gourmet burger joint BurgerFi are coming to town.
Moes, a fast-casual Mexican food concept created in Atlanta in 2000 and owned by FOCUS Brands, will open in the K-Mart shopping center in a few months, Moss said. BurgerFi, a fast-growing better burger chain based out of West Palm Beach, hopes to start construction in a few months with an opening in 2017.
“The population here wants to stay Vero, but they want the amenities of the larger, more hip cities,” Moss said. “They want to remain Vero but want to go to a Moe’s or go to a BurgerFi.”
The owner of the Kmart shopping center, developer Michael Rechter, said three new businesses are joining Moe’s in his shopping center – Vittorio’s Pizzeria & Restaurant, Mattress One and a salon.
Moe’s was drawn to the location because of the 34,500 cars that pass the shopping center daily, said Rechter, who also is redeveloping the old diesel plant into the American Icon Brewery, which is slated to open in downtown Vero Beach next summer.
Rechter said national chains are beginning to take notice of Vero Beach, with well-known brands such as Chipotle and Chick-fil-A opening restaurants in the past few years. “Vero Beach was several years behind, but the growth is trickling down to smaller cities now.”
It’s not just restaurant brands that have taken notice of Vero Beach. For example, Cumberland Farms just opened a 5,000-square-foot store with 16 gas pumps at 17th Street and U.S. 1, making it the fourth Cumberland Farms convenience store in Indian River County and first within in the city of Vero Beach’s borders.
Dino DeThomas, Cumberland Farms senior vice president and chief real estate officer, explained why this site was picked: “The location [previously home to a Mobile station] was chosen because of the existing fuel presence along with the ability to acquire the adjacent property to allow us to build a full-size store featuring our expanded food and beverage presentation along with a fuel layout that has convenient access points and parking for our customers.”
Cumberland Farms began its retail existence as a Rhode Island dairy story in 1957 and morphed into a chain of New England convenience stores. A pioneer in self-serve gasoline pumps beginning in 1972, it now operates 600 stores in eight states, employing 6,000 people.
“Cumberland Farms has a first-rate operation and this is an ideal use for the property,” said Tim McGarry, Vero Beach director of planning and development.
Competition will be nearby. A formidable business rival – fellow convenience store giant Wawa – will be opening less than a mile to the south at 12th Street and U.S. 1 at the former site of a GM car dealership, bringing an ambiance and dining option that has proved highly popular in other locations.
“Wawa has a cult following,” says Moss, who brokered the deal that is bringing what he calls “a restaurant with gas pumps, not a gas station with food,” to Vero. “The quality of their food is renowned. The quality of their coffee, the way they do business, the culture – all outstanding. It is like Starbucks used to be, a third place in people’s lives. You have your home, you have work and then you have Wawa.”
A privately held company more than 200 years old that began as an iron foundry in New Jersey in 1803 and later developed a huge dairy operation, Wawa operates more than 630 stores that are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
The company, famous for its hoagies, says it serves nearly 200 million cups of coffee each year.
The steel frame of the Wawa is complete and the store is expected to open later this summer.
Just south of the Wawa property Roberts Equities, a mid-size real estate development and holding company with offices in Boca Raton, is developing 23,000 square feet of retail space in three buildings on the former site of a Lincoln Mercury dealership. Among others, tenants will include a national auto parts dealer, a restaurant, and possibly a cellphone store, according to Roberts Equities Vice President Randy Tulepan.
“We have decided U.S. 1 is the place,” Tulepan said. “We think there are quite a few opportunities along that stretch of road, which has lagged other parts of Vero in terms of development.”
There’s more. A Walmart Neighborhood Market is poised to open in the old Albertsons in 2017 on the other side of 17th Street from Cumberland Farms after access off U.S. 1 is reconfigured to comply with a state Department of Transportation order, McGarry said. The entrance and exit off U.S. 1 is expected to be near the Sonic restaurant in front of the property and work needs to be done there to improve traffic flow.
The former Albertsons has stood vacant since 2012.
In a prepared statement, Walmart spokesman Phillip Keene discussed why the Arkansas-based company wanted to open its supermarket-style retail store at the former Albertsons building.
“We look for areas where we can offer customers a greater selection of merchandise, convenience and affordability than they had before,” Keene said. “In some cases, this means a new store in a new community. In other cases, it means an additional store in a different neighborhood or on the other side of town.”
City Manager Jim O’Connor said he appreciated Walmart cleaning up the vacant former grocery, which sits just inside the city limits. He noted the new Cumberland Farms is annexed into the city, while the new Wawa will be outside the city border in Indian River County.
In other U.S. 1 restaurant news, Ay! Jalisco, the popular Mexican restaurant, is moving from its longtime Miracle Mile home in the Publix shopping center to the former site of the VB Sports Grille at 1902 U.S. 1.
Married owners Gloria Huitron and Pedro Nevarez bought the sports bar after it was on the market for about a year on Dec. 21 and have completed an attractive Southwestern-style exterior renovation.
Nevarez said they decided to move because their lease at Treasure Coast Plaza has gone up 3 percent a year over the 15 years they’ve been at 465 21st Street. The other reason is parking. Treasure Coast Plaza, where Publix is located, has gotten so busy in the last two years that people on one-hour lunches can’t find parking out front. “They go someplace else, even though there is plenty of parking in the back,” Nevarez said.
O’Connor said the revival along U.S. 1 is part of a citywide commercial property expansion that is taking place in downtown Vero Beach, the mall area, and elsewhere, in addition to the U.S. 1 corridor.
