Shake Shack to Open First Location in This Florida Market

Shake Shack leased space at Midtown Tampa, a mixed-use project with offices, apartments, retail and a hotel. (The Bromley Cos.)

Hamburger chain Shake Shack plans to open its first restaurant on Florida’s Gulf Coast at the $500 million Midtown Tampa mixed-use project.

The restaurant leased 3,200 square feet at the development’s main entrance off Cypress Street, according to the Bromley Cos., the developer of the project. Shake Shack is expected to open in the first quarter of 2021.

Midtown Tampa, along North Dale Mabry Highway at Interstate  275, is about half a mile from Raymond James Stadium, which is hosting the Super Bowl in February 2021. Bromley Cos. expects most of Midtown Tampa to be finished by then. When fully built out, plans at Midtown Tampa call for three office buildings, 390 apartments, 206,000 square feet of shops and restaurants and a 226-room hotel.

In August, Bromley Cos. announced that outdoor retailer REI Inc. planned to open its first Tampa Bay store at Midtown Tampa. Other tenants include True Food Kitchen and Burton’s Grill & Bar, both opening their first Tampa Bay locations.

“It’s not just first to market; It’s also best in class,” Bromley Cos. CEO Nicholas Haines said in an interview with CoStar News. “For me, it’s really gratifying to be building a community, a district, that resonates with these great brands.”

The retail portion of Midtown Tampa, anchored by Whole Food  Market, is about 60% leased, and Bromley Cos. is trading proposals with other tenants for the balance of the space according to Haines.

Shake Shack began in New York City in 2004 and now has more than 170 locations worldwide with about 14 in Florida, according to the company’s website.

Another burger chain, White Castle, plans to open its first location in Florida since the 1960s, when it last had a restaurant in Miami. White Castle leased space in Orlando, Florida, on Daryl Carter Parkway off Interstate 4 near Walt Disney World. White Castle owns and operates more than 375 restaurants in 13 states.

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