Chipotle with drive-thru planned in Manatee County

A popular restaurant is planned to revitalize a defunct gas station site in Manatee County. Developers have proposed building a Chipotle Mexican Grill with a drive-thru at 5320 33rd St. E. The location is off State Road 70, about three miles west of Interstate 75. 

SDP Florida 1 LLC is the owner of the property, which it purchased for $1.12 million in December from Driven Brands Inc., according to Manatee County property records. The address for SDP Florida 1 LLC corresponds to Streamline Development Partners, a commercial development company in Oxford, Mississippi, whose clients include Chipotle.

A preliminary site plan for the proposed Manatee County project features a 2,235-square-foot restaurant with a drive-thru. It would have 31 parking spaces, beyond the required 29 spaces for a site of this size, which is about 0.81 acre. In addition to the parking spaces, there will be two spots for pickup, one pull-ahead waiting space, six drive-thru stacking spaces and one turn-around space, according to the plan.

Chipotle anticipates opening 315 to 345 new restaurants in 2025, with at least 80% including what it calls a “Chipotlane,” or drive-thru, according to a statement from the company, which has more than 3,800 restaurants in its portfolio worldwide.

"Chipotlanes are a critical piece of our long-term growth goal of reaching 7,000 restaurants in North America," Chipotle President and Chief Brand Officer Chris Brandt said in a statement last November, upon the opening of the company's 1,000th Chipotlane. "This restaurant format is the fastest way for fans to get Chipotle and has proven to increase sales, margins and returns."

The drive-thru at the 33rd Street East location will only be available through in-app ordering, according to a Manatee County planning staff report. Access to the restaurant is proposed from State Road 70 and from 33rd Street East.

While the developers are required to leave 20% of the site as open space, they have opted to designate 39.63% as open space in the case of Chipotle, according to the preliminary site plan.

Previously, the site operated as a convenience store with gas pumps that shut down in 2018, the staff report says. A vacant store building with a canopy and a car wash remain on the property, the report says. In 2022, an application was submitted to convert the site to a Take 5 car wash, but the applicant later withdrew the proposal, so it was never brought to the Planning Commission or county commissioners for approval, according to the report.

The Manatee County Planning Commission approved the preliminary site plan for Chipotle at its Aug. 14 meeting, the staff report says. County commissioners will consider the preliminary site plan at its Sept. 4 land use meeting.