Chamber conference closes with sneak peeks at what businesses, restaurants are coming

AMELIA ISLAND — After a long weekend of activities, the closeout session at the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce Conference showcased developments in every corner of the city and large-scale projects to address housing needs. Representatives from two companies — GreenPointe Developers in Jacksonville and the 908 Group in Tampa — talked about why they chose Tallahassee’s market for their transformative projects. GreenPointe plans to break ground to begin infrastructure work for its 900-acre master planned community in what’s called “The Heel” of the Welaunee Plantation; a literal reference to the segment of the sprawling Welaunee Plantation property that’s sliced into three geographic areas: the Toe, the Heel and the Arch. It’s located just north of the intersection of Interstate 10 and Mahan Drive, near the new Amazon fulfillment center. The company is one of the largest privately held residential developers in the state, considering it’s developed 17 master planned communities consisting of 18,500 single family home sites, 3,500 apartments and 800,000 square feet of commercial and retail space. Yet, each project reflects natural traits from their respective communities, said Grady Miars, president of GreenPointe Developers, which is what he hopes to do in Tallahassee, too. “We’re not a developer that does things in a cookie cutter,” he said. “When we go into regions and areas, we try to do things and work with the land, work with the community, work with things that work with those particular areas. “We do everything but build the house. So we focus on lifestyle. We focus on community, and we focus on bringing connectivity to the community.” New businesses, particularly Amazon’s upcoming operational opening next month of its robotic fulfillment center, and steady growth projections were attractive reasons for GreenPointe to plant its flag in the capital city, said Chris Kuhn, the project lead for The Heel project and a director of operations and development services at Kilinski/Van Wyk. “You take those growth projections, coupled with high demand and low inventory on the housing market, we think that spells success for a master planned community,” Kuhn said. “That give us a long runway to help ease those market conditions of low inventory.” Closer to Florida State’s campus, the 908 Group has had several student housing projects and has more underway. On one prominent corner, a five-story student housing development is in the pre-approved permit stage for a 1.09-acre lot located at Railroad Avenue and West Gaines and St. Francis streets. The parcel was previously a nightclub called GVO, which stands for “Good Vibes Only.” The project is one of several adjacent developments planned for the area that are all being built by the 908 Group, a boutique real estate development services firm in Tampa. The projects are referred to as 908 All Saints Sites 1, 2, 3 and 4, permit materials indicate. Brad Wolfe, managing director at the 908 Group, said the company has completed five projects in Tallahassee, including the The Nine and and Statehouse Varsity, that are worth over $350 million. He said five more are in the pipeline for another $200 million. He answered the “why Tallahassee question” by pointing to Florida State University’s sizeable growth in recent years which drove the need for more off-campus student housing. “So they really rely on off-campus apartment housing, which we love,” Wolfe said. “By the way … it seems like there’s stuff popping up every day. How can we need more student housing? We start pre-leasing a year in advance. We start pretty soon in August, and new students (come) in the next August, and we’re 100% pre-leased by October.”

Tallahassee market trends

Ed Murray, a commercial real estate broker and principal at NAI TALCOR, noted three development trends happening in Tallahassee’s market. “We’ve had our (medical) marijuana. We’ve had the car washes. We’ve had our mattress stores,” Murray said. “So you’ve got the C-stores (convenience stores) that are coming. A couple of them are Cumberland and Wawa, but there’s several others as well.” Murray also noted the flurry of car washes planned or recently opened, adding that trend isn’t slowing down any time soon. “They’re coming, and there’s economic reasons why they’re coming,” Murray said, noting the membership model adopted by the car washes. The last trend touched on office space. In large markets, such as New York and San Francisco, he said there’s truth to national reports that declare “office markets are dead. Never coming back. Too much space.” That’s not the case for Tallahassee, he said, adding “We aren’t overbuilt. We didn’t build too many, and we really don’t have much new product.” In addition, he said several existing concentrations of office space will be torn down and redeveloped. He pointed to the Kroger Center on Apalachee Parkway and the repurposed Centre of Tallahassee mall, which now houses state employee offices.

Other development notables

440 North Project — The mixed-use property has a new name: Industry. It’s the large redevelopment of the former Envision flagship location on North Monroe Street. It’s going to be apartments, ranging from $1,721 for a 428-square-foot studio to $43,325 for a three-bedroom, 2,080-square-foot apartment. Social Kitchen — A concept from Madison Social owner Matt Thompson, is slated for the CollegeTown area. It will be pick-up catering in the North Hampton Shopping Center off Thomasville Road. 7-Eleven — Slurpees and all other things you’d expect at a convenience store would be served. It’s slated for Mahan Drive near the new Amazon fulfillment store. It will be a Tallahassee first once it’s built. 7 Brew — It’s a new coffee shop slated for the former Barnacle Bill’s location on North Monroe Street. According to the 7 Brew Coffee website, it all started in February 2017 with a store in Rogers, Arkansas.  It also states that 7 Brew Coffee is a “revolution that treats people like people — that makes them feel warmed, loved, and important, all before they take a sip of the best drink in town.” Wings n’ things — The tagline is “Wings For Every Mood.” The chain serves 10 flavors and has a location in Pompano Beach. The Tallahassee location is slated for North Monroe Street. Tesla — At the former Saturn car dealership location, a Tesla dealership is set to occupy the 39,037 square foot dealership at 2412 W. Tennessee St. Jaguar and Land Rover dealership — Another Tallahassee first. Located along Capital Circle Northwest, the facility boasts a modern showroom and service facility built by Capital Eurocars, a division of the Crown Automotive Group. The two new dealerships are co-locating with Capital BMW in the 42,370 square-foot facility.