Friday, June 25, 2010
Orlando Business Journal – by Anjali Fluker Staff Writer
Dave & Busters Inc. finalized a deal this month to enter the Orlando market, after years of flirting with the idea.
The Dallas-based company operates 57 restaurant/bar/entertainment complexes nationwide and in Canada serving burgers, pastas, salads and other American fare. It also features arcade games, virtual sports and pool tables.
It will be the sole tenant on the shuttered Race Rock restaurant site on the International Drive tourist corridor with landlord National Retail Properties LP.
The building had been empty since 2007, when Windermere-based Tavistock Group Inc. bought it for $7.5 million from local restaurateur Bobby Moore with plans to rebrand it with a new entertainment venue. Instead, Tavistock began marketing the property for sale for $9 million last year.
Representatives from Tavistock Group did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
Orlando-based real estate investment trust National Retail Properties (NYSE: NNN) bought the former restaurant and its surrounding land for $8.1 million on June 15 from Tavistock Group’s I Drive Real Estate Inc., Orange County records showed.
Plans for the property include razing the 17,757-square-foot building and constructing a new one in its place, said Charlie George, owner of RLP Realty Advisors LLC, who co-brokered the sale on behalf of I Drive Real Estate, along with Mark Hayes of Atlantic Management Inc. George did not have details on the construction plans. Representatives from Dave & Busters did not respond to inquiries by press time.
“This is a fantastic entertainment venue that’s really going to change the face of I-Drive,” said George.
John Artope, senior vice president and market leader for SRS Real Estate Partners in Orlando who represented Dave & Busters in the lease deal, and National Retail Properties spokesman Chris Barry both declined to comment.
George said he first began talks with Artope about Dave & Busters in late 2008, but the stock market meltdown, real estate slowdown and a lack of consumer spending led the firm to delay its plans.
“At that time, people were limited in what they could spend on entertainment,” George said. “Now, the economy has come back, and Dave & Busters is really strong. The timing is perfect for this.”
Nationwide in April, personal income increased 0.4 percent to $54.4 billion and disposable personal income increased 0.5 percent to $57.6 billion, said the U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Dave & Busters, which is privately held but issues quarterly earnings reports, posted a 24.3 percent decline in profit, from $5.2 million in first-quarter 2009 to $3.9 million for the period ended May 2 of this year. The company attributed the drop to the harsh winter season cutting into February revenue, especially on the East Coast.
Dallas-based Wellspring Capital Management LLC sold the 57-restaurant chain to Oak Hill Capital Partners for a reported $570 million. The deal is expected to close by month’s end.
But the concept should fare well in the warm tourist-friendly environment of Orlando, whose visitors and conventioneers may be familiar with other Dave & Busters locations, said Maria Triscari, executive director of the International Drive Resort Area Chamber of Commerce. “Anytime a business is resurrected, it’s good for the entire community.”
Nancy Ryan, director of sales for the neighboring Quality Inn Plaza, said although she’s not familiar with Dave & Busters, if it offers adults an additional form of entertainment, it will go over well in the family-dominated I-Drive area. “A lot of convention attendees on this part of I-Drive are not looking for children’s entertainment,” Ryan said. “It definitely will be a positive for the area.”