The Oldsmar City Council approved a site plan on Tuesday night that paves the way for a developer to build a 3,200-sq. ft. restaurant at the corner of Bayview Boulevard and State Road 580.
For the last several months, the Oldsmar City Council has been looking at ways to increase the profile of the city’s downtown district, enlisting the help of everyone from professional developers to college students in its quest to make the downtown area more vibrant.
Last night, the council members took a small step towards achieving that goal.
The council unanimously approved a site plan agreement from a Tampa based real estate broker on Tuesday, paving the way for a 3,200+-square-foot restaurant to be built on a vacant lot on the corner of Bayview Boulevard and State Road 580.
“I think it’s a very positive thing for the City of Oldsmar and the CRA,” Council member Dan Saracki said after the plan submitted by property owner Todd Adams was approved by a 5-0 vote.
According to documents, the plan calls for a 3,250-square-foot building to be constructed on the southeast corner of SR 580 and Bayview, on the outskirts of the city’s town center.
The one-story structure will employ a “tower feature,” earth tones and decorative awnings, and it will require 29 parking spaces; the council approved the agreement with two conditional variances that call for the reduction in the width of the sidewalks as well as adding two drainage culverts on the lot.
The positioning of the entrance of the building is still up for discussion, according to officials.
Following the vote, Tom Lykins, a broker for Adams & Associates Realty in Tampa, told Oldsmar Connect about their plans for the property.
“It will be a mom and pop establishment, not a chain restaurant,” Lykins said.
Lykins went on to explain that he is a former Oldsmar vice-mayor, and the idea of putting a restaurant on the spot date back to his days on the council.
“Years ago when I was on the council, there used to be a restaurant in town called the My Way Inn,” he said. “It served breakfast and lunch, and the parking lot was always packed. It was the kind of place where if you couldn’t find a spot, you parked in front of someone, because everybody knew everyone in there.”
“Eventually, the road (Tampa Road) took it away, and we’ve been talking about doing something like this for a long time,” he added. “I talked to Todd and said, we miss the My Way Inn, so why don’t we do this? It would work.”
Lykins said that he and Adams are still working on securing a tenant for the property, with one prospective client supposedly chomping at the bit to get into the space.
“He’s been ready to go with this for a long time, and he’s getting tired of waiting,” Lykins said, noting that delays with surveying and permitting has held the project up for months.
“We don’t have him locked up yet, but hopefully tonight’s decision will help with that.”
For his part, Oldsmar Mayor Doug Bevis said he is excited to see the first potential piece of the downtown redevelopment plan fall into place.
“I think anything that gets developed in the CRA, especially a restaurant, is great for the community,” he told Oldsmar Connect after the meeting. “I’m excited because I think this restaurant fits perfectly with the area.”
“I think the plan fits with our vision for the downtown, and hopefully this project spurs other property owners in the area to follow suit.”
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