Burgers will soon give way to beans.
Popular Red Owl Coffee Company is planning to move into the long-vacant former Wendy’s site at 2040 A1A South as part of a three-tenant redevelopment dubbed Sunrise Marketplace, The Citizen has learned.
The site, which operated for decades as a Wendy’s before closing around 2022, is now permitted for an $800,000 shell alteration that will expand and reconfigure the existing building for multiple tenants.
While the documents on file only clearly identify Red Owl, plans indicate Sunrise Marketplace is being laid out for three businesses: two food-service spaces and one additional professional or retail space.
The development will total 5,392 square feet once complete.
The Anastasia Island location will include a drive-thru, grandfathered in from the property’s previous use as a Wendy’s.
Red Owl, which started in Valdosta, Georgia, in 2016, operates multiple locations throughout Georgia and has two existing locations in Northeast Florida: Orange Park and Jacksonville.
The drive-thru coffee chain focuses on specialty coffee beverages, energy drinks, and food items.
City records describe the project as a “shell building” with “no occupancy,” meaning each tenant will still need separate interior buildout permits before opening.
The owner and developer for the project is A1A Vita LLC, with Alan and Jennifer Stevenson listed as owner contacts.
Corner Construction Services is the contractor on the shell permit.
A1A Vita LLC purchased the property in 2023 from L & L Pirton Inc. for $2.1 million, according to public records.
Jennifer Stevenson politely declined to comment on the project when reached by The Citizen.
