Oregon coffee shop chain opening in Fort Myers, expanding in SWFL

Naples/Fort Myers/Charlotte

Coffee run: A chain of mostly drive-thru coffee shops founded in Portland, Oregon is opening a location in Fort Myers. Coffee Rush has leased a 0.58-acre property at 7490 Winkler Road. David Sepulveda with LQ Commercial Associates says the company is in the process of applying for permits and hopes to be open soon. The space, which will be about 700 square feet, will be mostly for drive-thru customers though there will be some limited seating outside. Coffee Rush first opened as a kiosk in 1992 and now has six locations in Portland. This will be it second shop in Florida though Sepulveda says the company is actively looking for more space in Southwest Florida. The other Florida shop is in Fort Lauderdale. 

Tampa/St. Petersburg/Pasco/Polk

Health care hustle: Sila Realty Trust, a Tampa REIT with a majority of its holdings in the medical field, has bought a medical outpatient building in Reading, Pennsylvania. The 30,000-square-foot facility was bought for $10.5 million. According to an SEC filing, the outpatient building is next to an existing inpatient behavioral hospital and is used to provide treatment for its patients. The facility is fully leased to the Reading Behavioral Healthcare, a joint venture between Acadia Healthcare and Tower Health, says Sila. The buy comes not long after two other big purchases the company made this year — a five-building hospital portfolio for $85.5 million that includes properties in Texas and Arizona totaling 158,000 square feet on 17.5 acres; and an Indiana inpatient rehabilitation facility for $39 million. Here at home, Sila is working to get itself listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It says joining NYSE will give shareholders liquidity options and the company access to public equity markets both of which will “consequently enhance value.” In all, the company, owns more than 134 properties and two undeveloped parcels in 64 U.S. markets.

Courtesy image

Juxtaposition: The two faces of Tampa’s housing market were on full display last week as a major affordable housing project broke ground just days after a luxury, waterfront high rise officially opened its doors. Both projects are being built by Miami developer The Related Group. That Related is building both the luxury and affordable housing developments is no surprise, really. The company’s founder, Jorge Perez is a former city planner. He started the company in 1979 with a focus on affordable housing before expanding out. To date, the company has built or rehabilitated more than 25,000 affordable housing units according to its website. That’s along with 65,000 units of luxury real estate valued at over $20 billion. Here’s what happened:

• The city of Tampa official kicked off construction of its Rome Yards project at a ceremonial groundbreaking. The event was to commemorate the first multifamily piece to be built on the 18 acres the city has dedicated to building affordable housing in West Tampa. The community is the Gallery at Rome Yards, a 234-unit apartment building off of Columbus Drive between Rome Avenue and the Hillsborough River. It will be made up of one-, two- and three-bedroom units with the majority of apartments — 80% — set aside for households at or below 80% of the Area Median Income. The rest will be reserved for workforce housing. Work on the community is expected to be completed by December 2026. The complete Rome Yards Master Plan calls for the construction of a neighborhood that will have 954-units of mixed-income housing along with green space, an amphitheater and a brick observation “cigar” to mark the area’s history. It is being built on the site of a former city maintenance yard. Gallery at Rome Yards is being built by a partnership between Related and the Tampa Housing Authority.
• Four miles and a world away, The Ritz-Carlton Residences Tampa officially opened Tower 1 along one of the city’s most prominent — and exclusive — residential corridors. The 30-story tower sits right off Bayshore Boulevard and is completely sold out. The building is made up of 89 residences and 12 townhouse-style villas with floorplans ranging from 2,400 square feet to 11,000 square feet. When it was first announced, prices were listed at between $1.6 million and $5.1 million. The building is one of two Ritz-Carlton towers Related is building in the city. The second, Tower II, is about a half-mile away. The company broke ground late last year on that building. When complete, it will have 94 condominiums and six villas. Pricing on those units started at $1.7 million.

Sarasota/Manatee

A juicy bit of news: The Bradenton City Council voted unanimously last week to begin the process to buy a piece of property owned by Tropicana. The deal is for 32.39 acres near the intersection of U.S. 301 and Ninth Street East by the railroad tracks. The city is paying $5.25 million. But the deal is not done. Council members authorized the purchase agreement and there will now be a 120-day period of due diligence before it goes back for final approval. Officials at have said the property will be used for Public Works and Utilities enterprise facilities. These facilities are now located off 13th Avenue West. Staff working on the relocation wanted to ensure the new facilities would be on at least 10 acres centrally located and zoned properly for the use. After city personnel researching locations met with Tropicana, they announced there was an opportunity to purchase the 32-acre site. Tropicana — with a history in Bradenton that dates back 77 years — had used the land for trailer-loading, but due to changes in its business processes, the company deemed it surplus.

Image via Dental Care at White Eagle / Facebook

Dental divestiture: A dental building in Bradenton has sold. The building is at 13310 State Road 64 E. and was bought for $3 million by Legacy Life Investments out of Lakewood Ranch. The seller was the commercial real estate investment firm WMG Development which paid $775,000 in 2022 and built the building. The building, according the listing on LoopNet, is currently leased to Heartland Dental. The practice, which operates as Dental Care at White Eagle, has a 10-year lease with four, five-year options with 10% fixed rent increases every five years. Heartland is a dental support organization. It operates in 39 states and Washington, D.C., and works with about 2,800 doctors in more than 1,700 offices.

If you have news, notes or tips you want to pass along, contact [email protected]. Or you can text or call 727-371-6944.