Redevelopment Area Burger King to Relocate

Construction in the Temple Terrace downtown redevelopment area will resume when the owners of the Burger King at 101 Bullard Parkway move the restaurant to the area in front of  the Sweetbay plaza.

The Temple Terrace City Council unanimously accepted a preliminary site plan June 4 for the construction of a 3,104-square-foot freestanding building at the northeast corner of 56th Street and Chicago Avenue with an address of 8755 N. 56th St. The restaurant would have a wrap-around drive-through, and its main entrances would face Sweetbay.

Burger King’s move has been part of the downtown redevelopment plan for years.

In July 2011, Mike Vlass, head of the Vlass Group, which is developing the downtown area, told the council that Burger King could stay in its current location until Aug. 1, 2013, but it was prepared to move to a “food village” in the area of Chicago Avenue. The area would have fast food, casual dining and fine dining restaurants.

The preliminary plans for the new location, however, were introduced at the council’s June 4 meeting.

Brad Parrish, the city’s senior planner, told the council that the back of the restaurant, including a dumpster, would face 56th Street. The owners would integrate the dumpster with the building.

Council members asked about the dumpster in particular. Councilman Grant Rimbey said he didn’t think that a dumpster facing 56th Street would be an appropriate urban example.

Rimbey also suggested the owners design the restaurant more in a Mediterranean Revival-style.

Dan Fitzpatrick is chairman and CEO of Quality Dining, which owns the Burger King in the redevelopment area and operates nearly 240 restaurants in eight states, including more than 165 Burger Kings.

Fitzpatrick seemed to quell concerns when he said the location in the redevelopment area would be unique.

“I have been in literally hundreds if not thousands of Burger King restaurants,” he said. “There’s none in our system that look even close to this.”

He also said the dumpster would be blended into the building so that it would be difficult to notice unless you were standing directly in front of it.

“It will be the most undumpster-like dumpster that you’ve had in this town,” he said.

The council is expected to vote on final site plans in August, Parrish later said.