Two New Downtown Restaurants Highlight Success of Business Development Efforts

A multi-million dollar investment in the downtown core of Lake Wales is proving successful in attracting new private sector investment to the area. Restaurants and retail outlets are filling storefronts and attracting growing pedestrian traffic to the long-sleepy historic district.

The commercial heart of the city is being steadily transformed by the implementation of the Lake Wales Connected Plan. Attractive new streetscapes, improved lighting, trees and flowers, new sidewalks, and other improvements are drawing interest and stimulating building renovations. Park Avenue’s new brick surface and lush greenery has drawn praise from residents and visitors alike.

The changes were conceived during a community planning process led by urban planners Dover Kohl a& Partners. Developed with plenty of community input, the plan has already won several awards.

Robert Connors

Co-owner Deborah Partlow serves guests in Lady B’s Tea Parlour, a new establishment at 205 East Stuart Avenue. The restaurant offers an elegant lunch and afternoon teas.

Lady B’s Tea Parlour, an elegant, English inspired space, and Vibin’ Vinnies, a 1950’s themed diner, have opened in recent weeks, and both are attracting growing numbers of fans. They come on the heels of two other restaurants, Smoking DJ’s and The Thirsty Dragon, that opened during the prior 12-month period. Signage was posted this week announcing the pending opening of Dark Kafe on Stuart Avenue.

New retailers are also moving into the compact historic district, including Sew Creative, a fabric and quilting store on Stuart Avenue. The Luxe Bride Boutique and The Emerson, an event and catering facility, occupy space in the restored 1916 JT Rhodes Building on Park Avenue.

Financed by the Lake Wales Community Redevelopment Agency through an $18,5 million bond issue and a series of grants, the Connected process will eventually include more than $50 million in improvements spread over scores of blocks of the city.

Robert Connors

A 1950’s atmosphere pervades Vibin’ Vinnie’s, a new diner, complete with an adjacent ice cream parlor, in the historic Rhodesbilt Arcade on East Park Avenue in downtown Lake Wales. Gene Hofferber, right, and his wife Lynette, (left, back to camera) provide a menu of classic burgers, fries, onion rings and other tasty treats.

Upcoming phases include streetscaping for Orange and Crystal Avenues and North Market Street, as well as the planting of hundreds of trees across the Northwest Neighborhood to complement an extensive sidewalk-building project.

The planned restoration of the historic Walesbilt Hotel is currently in a negotiating phase as details of that project are sorted out. The project, expected to approach $40 million in overall costs, will return the ornate building to use as a hotel affiliated with the Mariott chain. Plans for the building also include new restaurant facilities.

Much of the Connected Plan construction is being financed through a single federal grant of nearly $23 million, intended to increase pedestrian and traffic safety and spur further economic development.

A concerted effort to attract new dining and retail businesses in being conducted by Lake Wales Main Street and the City of Lake Wales, which retained the firm of Retail Strategies to aid in the search.