Plans for the second phase of Lotis Wellington have shifted after a mini-golf venture connected to Tiger Woods pulled out of the project, leaving the developer scrambling to find tenants.
Lotis Group won permission from the village council of Wellington to alter its plans for the commercial portion of Lotis Wellington 2, a 52-acre mixed use project that’s under construction at 1105 South State Road 7.
Those changes include the development of an 8,500-square-foot Seasons 52 restaurant, but the question of how to use 3 acres previously slated for PopStroke miniature golf is lingering.
Council members were reluctant to remove the entertainment element, noting that the project has gone through multiple changes already, also removing an assisted living facility.
Lotis Group is expected to return to report on what it plans to build on the acreage set aside for Delray Beach-based PopStroke, which was to include an 8,000-square-foot building and 36 holes of indoor/outdoor mini golf.
Lotis Group pitched replacing the slated entertainment complex with an 8,000-square-foot restaurant and retail building and an 8,000-square-foot mini-park.
Nicole Fontaine, an executive vice president at Colliers, said Lotis Group has tried to secure tenants, such as indoor pickleball courts, movie theaters, candlemaking classes and “kid concepts,” but none were interested.
Complicating things is a pending lease with Seasons 52 and restrictions from Lennar.
The proposed contract with Seasons 52 forbids any other food or beverage establishment larger than 3,000 square feet, as well as gyms, from opening in Lotis Wellington 2. The restaurant, operated by Orlando-based Darden Restaurants, doesn’t want to compete with another large venue for parking spaces, Fontaine said.
There are also restrictions from Miami-based homebuilding giant Lennar, which paid about $54 million for most of the residential portion of Lotis Wellington 2, where 100 single-family homes and 72 townhouses can be built. They include prohibitions on bars, nightclubs, discos, dancehalls, comedy clubs, skating rinks, pool halls, adult-oriented establishments or gun ranges.
But the council urged Lotis Group not to give up on an entertainment use.
“If you drive around Wellington, we have a lot of strip malls that aren’t doing so well, so the last thing any of us want is to approve another failing strip mall type-area,” council member Amanda Silvestri said.
The adjacent Lotis Wellington 1 will include 372 residential rentals, 42,000 square feet of restaurants, 12,000 square feet of retail, 13,000 square feet of offices and 60,000 square feet of medical offices when complete, per Lotis Group’s website.
Tenants signed to that development include Cooper’s Hawk, Lazy Dog, Cluck Face, and Garden Butcher. Golf simulator Fore Elite Golf has also secured space.
