Orlando Sentinel : In Orlando’s funky Audubon Park, auto shop and gas station become spots for doughnuts and coffee
By AUSTIN FULLER ORLANDO SENTINELJAN 04, 2021 AT 4:16 PM
In Orlando’s funky Audubon Park, auto shop and gas station become space for doughnuts and coffee.
Two garage doors on the front of The Salty Donut pay homage to the renovated Audubon Park property’s decades as an auto repair shop.
“There has to be a story. There has to be character,” said Andy Rodriguez, who founded the Miami-based doughnut chain with his wife, Amanda Pizarro. “There has to be a narrative to the buildings that we choose to open stores in.”
The Salty Donut, which debuted in December in what was once Gene’s Complete Auto Service, is far from the only business in the Orlando neighborhood to transform an old property into something new. Lobos Coffee Roasters also opened in December in a former gas station nearby at Corrine Drive and Winter Park Road.
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Such repurposed buildings add to the character of Audubon Park, said Park Ave CDs owner Sandy Bitman.
“I think recycling the space creates personality,” Bitman said. “It creates individuality. It makes it unique to go to.”
His record store moved into what he describes as a mid-century, modern Florida plaza on Corrine Drive in 2005.https://6f40ca79fb569fc4be25f1a347aaa1ad.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html?n=0
He liked the idea of operating in tandem with nearby Stardust Video & Coffee, thought the neighborhood was centrally located in Orlando and believed that it wouldn’t be overrun by larger corporations looking to bulldoze properties for new construction.
“Because it was such a hodgepodge of buildings, we kind of felt like it would kind of sustain itself,” Bitman said.https://d-24141364491689884916.ampproject.net/2012232217000/frame.html
Today that plaza is home to other businesses that include Redlight Redlight beer bar and brewery, P is for Pie Bake Shop and The Lovely Boutique Market. Above Redlight Redlight’s sign are non-transparent, rectangle windows and an old, blue and white sign for Carrier air conditioning and heating.
A nearby plaza on Corrine houses Kelly’s Homemade Ice Cream, The Owl’s Attic boutique, and Bikes, Beans & Bordeaux Cafe.
The neighborhood’s popular food hall, East End Market, opened in 2013 in a former church.
“It’s not thematically linked by design or by a business owners’ association or something like that,” Bitman said.
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For The Salty Donut, Audubon Park was a good fit as the businesses there felt different, Rodriguez said.
“We like to be places that feel unique,” he said.
Rodriguez said his company spent about $750,000 renovating the Audubon Park property, including right-of-way improvements but excluding costs for kitchen equipment and furniture, after purchasing it for more than $873,000. The building at 3025 Corrine Drive dates back to 1967 and its history includes operating as a gas and service station.
Renovations included redoing the building’s facade with the new garage doors, putting a new roof on an outside covering for outdoor seating and expanding the building from about 2,100 square feet to 2,600 square feet.
It’s not only about making doughnuts and coffee, Rogriguez said, but also “vibes.” That requires a building that feels like part of the community.
“It’s creating spaces that are really beautiful, that are very interesting, that people want to hang out in,” he said.
The inside of the shop features an exposed ceiling as well as windows looking back into the kitchen.
Nearby, Lobos Coffee Roasters renovated a gas station. That space has been transformed for the business that also serves beer, wine and sandwiches.
That building, which is 1,700 square feet plus a new patio outside, had the right mix of space, parking and a great community, said owner Roryn “Tony” Villalobos. He did not disclose the price of his renovation.
“We felt that bringing this gas station to a new modern day and adding it to what Audubon Park already has, we thought would be a great addition,” Villalobos said. “Audubon Park is what all the other communities in Orlando strive to be.”
afuller@orlandosentinel.com Austin Fuller Orlando Sentinel
Austin Fuller is a business reporter at the Orlando Sentinel covering retail, restaurants and technology. A lifelong resident of Central Florida, he graduated from Stetson University in DeLand and previously worked for The Daytona Beach News-Journal.
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