(MENAFN- Market Press Release) February 7, 2023 9:04 am - The formerly Fort Myers Beach-based restaurant will open in Bell Tower Shops next month La Ola Surfside Restaurant, a longtime mainstay on Fort Myers Beach, has signed a seven-year lease on a 4,136-square-foot space with 1,843 square feet of outdoor space at Bell Tower Shops in Fort Myers. The restaurant previously operated out of space in Times Square on Fort Myers Beach, which was destroyed during Hurricane Ian.
The new location, located at 13499 S. Cleveland Avenue in Fort Myers, is anticipated to open in late March. Dannielle Robinson of Colliers facilitated the transaction.
“We've seen a lot of businesses from Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel that are now looking for space inland following the devastation of Hurricane Ian,” said Dannielle Robinson, Senior Vice President, Retail Services, Colliers.“Many of these businesses have been on the islands for years and are now considering a new location to stay in business.”
For Tom Houghton, owner of La Ola Surfside Restaurant, opening a Fort Myers location allows his team to get back to work quickly and will bring a taste of the beach inland.
“Opening a second location in Fort Myers was a direct result of the storm. I realized how vulnerable we are on the beach,” said Tom Houghton, Owner, La Ola Surfside Restaurant.“Bell Tower will provide a safer home base while the island gets rebuilt, and we await a hopeful future location back on the beach.”
In addition to opening the new location for La Ola Surfside Restaurant, Houghton is in the process of building a temporary beach bar from shipping containers in Times Square, a gulf-front pedestrian mall and entertainment district on Fort Myers Beach.
The two shipping containers, which were delivered in January, will serve drinks, and Houghton will continue to serve food from his food truck. He expects that location to be fully operational later this year and is hopeful that he'll be able to rebuild and reopen the full restaurant in the near future.
La Ola Surfside Restaurant will offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner at Bell Tower Shops and will offer the same menu that was available at the Times Square location. There will also be live music in the afternoons and evenings. Houghton will complete a minor renovation of the space and add a small stage, dance floor and awning to the 1,800-square-foot patio.
“Part of the appeal of our Fort Myers Beach location was that we were in a public square, so people could mill around and would always end up at La Ola at some point in the day,” said Houghton.“Bell Tower offers this same atmosphere, so people have the option to eat at another restaurant and then stop by for live music and a drink.”
The owners of Bell Tower Shops recently completed an extensive redevelopment of the property. This included adding new gathering areas and landscaping, and redesigning the storefronts.
Several other businesses that were displaced because of Hurricane Ian Fort have also signed leases at Bell Tower Shops, including Synergy Sportswear, Bubbly Latitude, Adventure in Paradise, Macintosh Books and Paper, Butterfly Beach, Sanibel Candle Company, and Congress Jewelers.
About Colliers
Colliers (NASDAQ, TSX: CIGI) is a leading diversified professional services and investment management company. With operations in 63 countries, our 17,000 enterprising professionals work collaboratively to provide expert real estate and investment advice to clients. For more than 27 years, our experienced leadership with significant inside ownership has delivered compound annual investment returns of 20% for shareholders. With annual revenues of $4.5 billion and $81 billion of assets under management, Colliers maximizes the potential of property and real assets to accelerate the success of our clients, our investors and our people. Learn more at corporate.colliers.com, Twitter @Colliers or LinkedIn.
For further information please contact:
Kasey Brennan | True Blue Communications
(813) 625-0180 |
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