Yard Bar (Facebook), the popular pop-up tailgating bar by the Exploria Stadium has been sold to a new owner.
Yard Bar, located at 617 W. Central Boulevard [GMap] was originally purchased by Wall St. Plaza’s ownership group to transform the building into a brewery/tasting room concept that we wrote about previously HERE. While those plans went through City permitting, the project hit a snag when it was estimated that the project would carry a $100,000+ price tag for impact fees.
Enter the Yard Bar concept which was granted a defined and relatively short window by Orlando City Hall to allow Wall St. Plaza to host interim pop-up parties outside of the building on game days.
That time has now come to a close and the building has been sold.
The new owner of the property, Lamont Garber, told Bungalower that he intends to refurbish the building and “… restore it to its original luster.” Work to be done on the building, which we at the office affectionately call “The Triple Nipple,” is expected to include new roofing, new windows, and a complete renovation of the interior.
Garber expects that alone will take some time and he’s in no rush to find a new tenant, or series of tenants, for the space.
Garber may be familiar to our readers as he’s also the man behind the renovation of the former State Auto Body development in Winter Park which now houses Bear and Peacock Brewery, Foxtail Coffee and Foxtail Farmhouse, and Create Your Nature – the gourmet oatmeal cafe.
Garber also recently purchased the 90-year-old United Trophy property at 610 N. Orange Avenue [GMap] downtown along with the business, for $3.7 million. The former owner, Syd Levy, was a great local philanthropist who passed away a year ago. A large part of the funds from the sale are being donated to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Florida, one of Levy’s preferred charities.
Garber told Bungalower that he’s looking to acquire and save older buildings in the Downtown Orlando area to preserve their history in the face of all of the recent development.
