Ohio Panera Bread franchisee plans new restaurant, retail buildings

BUYER: Covelli Florida Properties Inc. (principals: Albert Covelli and Robert Fiorino), Warren, Ohio

SELLER: John and Karen Doherty

PROPERTY: 6001 W. Waters Ave., Tampa

PRICE: $1.48 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $2.07 million, March 2006

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Carey O'Malley Whitaker & Mueller PA, Tampa

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Warren, Ohio-based Covelli Enterprises LLC purchased a 7,740-square-foot restaurant building for $1.48 million.

The price equated to $191 per square foot. That figure is higher than the two-year average price per square foot for retail space ($146) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

The building, located on an outparcel to a large retail center at the northwest corner of Waters Avenue and the Veterans Expressway, was formerly a Don Pablo's restaurant and a Super Asian Buffet.

Covelli Enterprises, the largest franchisee of the Panera Bread restaurant chain, plans to tear down the existing building and construct a freestanding 4,400- to 4,800-square-foot Panera Bread restaurant with a drive-thru and patio. It will also develop an adjacent 3,600-square-foot building with room for three retail tenants. Colliers International Tampa Bay has been hired to market the retail units.

The new buildings are scheduled to open late this year or early 2014, according to Vikki Kaiser, director of marketing and public relations for the Covelli Family Limited Partnership.

Covelli Enterprises was created by former McDonald's franchisee Sam Covelli in 1998 to develop and manage the franchise rights of Panera Bread locations in the northeast Ohio, western Pennsylvania, West Virginia and West Palm Beach. According to its website, it owns more than 200 restaurants and is the fifth-largest restaurant franchisee in the nation. In 2011, its gross sales revenues surpassed $400 million.