There are plenty of buy-one-get-one free deals to be had at Publix, former Fort Myers Mayor Randy Henderson said. But there are no BOGOs in real estate.
Henderson owns the land at 2136 Bay St., adjacent to his office building at Dean Street Court, and used it as a parking lot. For years, he searched for ways to better monetize it.
“It was very challenging, trying to figure out what this place wanted to be when it grew up,” Henderson said. “There’s a lot of hyper-inflation in the development world right now, that’s a direct threat to that kind of activity. This really made excellent sense.”
On May 29, Henderson and David Fry, the two lead investors, celebrated the grand opening of Bay Street Yard. It’s a food truck park with Asian, Mexican and American concepts, along with two full bars and an elevated party deck. The deck has a capacity of 70 people that must be reserved by parties of eight or more.
Featured food trucks include Bonzai Asian Street Cuisine, Rick’s Taco Cartel and Bay Street Butcher.
While Henderson was looking for a concept for the land, Fry was looking for land for his concept. In January 2022, he sold his 0.27-acre parcel for $2.5 million at 2300 First St., which is still slated to become a hotel.
The size of Henderson’s land: also 0.27 acres.
“I used to have a property over on First Street that I was creating this concept for, but ultimately the property sold,” Fry said. “Randy and I got together and decided to build it here.”
They looked at other mobile food and outdoor bar concepts because building something else, such as a small apartment complex, would have cost tens of millions of dollars and likely would not have been profitable.
“What started three, four years ago was my thinking that people wanted to be outside,” Fry said. “I started thinking, what if there were an outdoor bar? So, I started going online and found some bars in Austin, Texas. I started sketching this concept out. And then COVID hit. And when COVID hit, people wanted to be outside even more. It really made a lot of sense to me.”
The design and construction of Bay Street Yard cost about $3 million, Fry said.
Architect Joyce Owens designed it.
Henderson and Fry said they expected slower business during the hot, rainy season but are hoping for a strong following during the rest of the year. Even during the summer, the adjacent parking garage shades Bay Street Yard in the early evening, and 28 fans keep the area cooler.
“We were blown away by the food,” Fry said, which is managed by Paradise Hospitality through Mainsail, which owns the Luminary Hotel across the street. “We have a full bar. We have a full liquor license. We have local beers. We have high-end wines.
“This land, it actually made it perfect. We had a totally cool idea. But as I mentioned to you earlier, this garage next door to us is a blessing because of the shade it casts over our property.”
