Mama B North — Google Maps
The owners of Mama B’s — full name Mama B’s Giant Subs — have announced plans to retire and sell the two sandwicheries, including the one on the corner of Colonial Drive and Orange Avenue.
Its proximity to the Orlando Sentinel made it a favorite stop for reporters and other employees who darted across Orange Avenue for lunch. For the record, during my 20 years at the Sentinel I ate at Mama B’s exactly once. (Meh.)
That North Orange Avenue location is the one that the owners stubbornly refused to sell to developers who, over the years, built up and around it nevertheless.
One of the parties interested in the property was local developer Craig Ustler of the Ustler Group of Companies. “We were interested in the property several years ago when we had planned a mid-rise office building with a ground floor restaurant/retail space for our site,” Ustler told me. “‘Squaring it off,’” he said, “by having the corner would have been valuable for an office building, and a corner restaurant space would have been worth studying.”
But when the market for new office space softened during the recession, Ustler’s company began to explore developing a “select service hotel,” which is specifically defined as a hotel that does not include a restaurant. “This use does not require significant road frontage and the corner piece was not needed,” he explained
So that’s why the Residence Inn by Marriott snuggles up to Mama B’s. The hotel, according to Ustler, is doing well and there is no need for the Mama B’s property.
Which makes one wonder: What could the property be used for? It’s a small lot, less than a quarter acre. Ustler told me that he has not analyzed it but said that redevelopment possibilities would be limited. So, another sandwich shop? You might get some business from the hotel guests who check in and find that there’s no restaurant. But there are fewer Sentinel workers crossing the street these days.
There might be more opportunities for the location on South Orange Avenue, at the corner of Annie Street. But more restaurants are needed in that area, which includes the Orlando Health campus nearby.
Hey, isn’t there an Irish pub looking for a property to relocate to? Claddagh Cottage, are you interested? I’m sure you could negotiate the supposed $1.2 million asking price.
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