The former Rooms To Go site, located at 1601-1605 West Oakland Park Blvd, has started the required City process to become three new fast casual restaurants.
Blue Ocean Group, the developer of the site, held the City’s required Neighborhood Participation Meeting on August 14th. The developer provided residents, who attended the meeting, a slide show showing the proposed redeveloped site plan and announced the names of the businesses that would occupy the new development.
New Additions to South Florida's Restaurant Scene
The anticipated restaurants are Starbucks, Chipotle and newcomer to the South Florida market, Pollo Campero. Pollo is a Guatemalan chain with seventy locations in the United States and over three hundred in such countries as Mexico, Spain, Bahrain, Belize and Brazil.
All three restaurants will feature indoor and outdoor dining spaces and drive-throughs.
Community Engagement: Varied Opinions and Concerns Voiced by Residents
Residents who attended expressed their opinions and concerns about the proposed redevelopment. Some residents stated they would rather see a grocery store like Trader Joe’s or a traditional sit down restaurant versus the proposed fast casual. Other residents were concerned about increased traffic, security and landscaping.
From here, the developer will submit an application to the City and the City’s Development Review Committee will review and work with the developer to ensure all City requirements are met by the developer before the application moves on to the Planning and Zoning Committee and the City Commission.
The project is in the very beginning stages. It still has to go through various stages of approval before being built. For right now, this is what is on the table. What it will actually be remains to be seen as it goes through the approval process.
