Mystery coffee shop in Oviedo, possible tiny home in Chuluota

A new coffee shop could be on the burner for the Oviedo area.

The Seminole County Development Review Committee met Wednesday to hear from the applicant. No votes were taken.

Projects brought to the DRC tend to be early in the development process, but still provide insight into future development. Not all projects will get final approvals, and many of the proposals could change.

Tampa-based Anzco LLC is planning a drive-thru coffee shop at 7111 Red Bug Lake Road, west of the Oviedo Mall. This would be at the intersection of Red Bug Lake Road and Mikler Road, in the same plaza as the Romano’s Macaroni Grill and the Rock & Brews restaurants.

Avid Group Planning Director Peter Pensa did not tell the committee what kind of coffee shop it was going to be.

“As you’re probably aware, last year Black Rifle Coffee was looking at the site and had received their permitting,” Pensa said. “But they since have dropped the site. A different coffee shop user is now under contract to purchase the property.”

In documents submitted to the DRC, Pensa wrote that it was proposed as a 2,500-square-foot coffee shop with a 450-square-foot covered patio and a drive-thru. The parcel was originally supposed to be a bank with drive-thru facilities. 

Requests for comment Oviedo Community News were not returned before deadline. But at the meeting, Pensa said the shop will serve food. 

“It is primarily a coffee shop, but it does provide food,” Pensa said.

Tiny, affordable homes in Chuluota

One item on the agenda for the DRC that did not get a discussion was a proposed tiny home project in Chuluota. 

Casselberry-based Two Headed Eagle Inc. is planning what it bills as an “affordable, small footprint home community” in the Chuluota area.  The project is on the east side of County Road 419, south of 11th Street. 

The applicant is Jozef Nikollaj, the former owner of Giovanni’s Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria. 

The consultant on the project is Longwood-based Cornerstone Design Build, which specializes in building tiny homes. The project is slated for 12 small homes on a 1.7 acre lot. According to the application, it would range from one-bedroom, one-bath footprints to three-bedroom, two-bath footprints. 

“These will be new homes with the intention of being affordable housing,” the applicants wrote. 

In an interview with Oviedo Community News, Cornerstone Design Build’s Brett Hiltbrand said his group previously built a tiny home in Oviedo. He said that other small-home projects have been controversial. 

“Absolutely, yes,” Hiltbrand said of concerns. “But then when people see what we’re doing, people are like, ‘Oh, it’s kinda cool.'”

He said the project is still very early on. “We’re trying to bring affordable housing to different parts of the state,” he said.

Commercial office building planned 

Another project that was on the agenda that didn’t get a discussion was a commercial office building with roll-up garage doors in the Oviedo area. 

JRH Ranch Inc. is planning the project at 5540 Vista View Way in Oviedo, on a piece of land behind the 7-Eleven off of State Road 426 near the interchange with S.R. 417. The property is about .6 acres.

Few other details are available. Check here for the application.