By Kyle Coppola
What Happened To Portillo’s Location Planned For Lady Lake?
Portillo’s, which has been a very popular Chicago-based chain restaurant, has been a big hit since its opening in Clermont. But what happened to plans of opening in Lady Lake? Original plans would have had the building opening sometime this year, but as of now, no construction work of any kind has happened on the property.
(Plans have not changed. Portillo’s still plans a drive-thru and plenty of parking. The plans delivered last year were well received by the public.)
We spoke with Town of Lady Lake’s Rebecca Schneider, who is part of the planners’ office, to see what’s going on.
“As of now, there has been no formal plan to cancel the application,” Rebecca says. “As far as I know, there has been a change of ownership with the proposed location which has slowed things down. I know they are attempting to keep that plan alive and again, nothing has been withdrawn.”
There was strong interest from the Lady Lake community for Portillo’s. We talked to many residents who were excited to see this project come to fruition. But since the announcement last year, we have been getting asked about what is going on with the site.
It appears as though the project is in limbo right now. The Town of Lady Lake was very informative but they could only provide the information they had. While the project has not been withdrawn, the change in ownership and the application that is still open is a sign that the project is still very much alive.
(There is no known time table for construction to begin on the Lady Lake location but there does appear to be some work going on behind the scenes so the project may still be moving forward.)
As they say, good things come to those who wait. The location in Clermont has been well received and currently has a 4.3-star rating on Google reviews.
While we don’t have any information on when construction might begin, it’s worth noting that construction is winding down on Hwy 441 in the area, which is a positive step for businesses on this stretch of road.
We will provide further information and updates as we learn more.
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Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
Portillo’s is my all-time fav restaurant and we have followed their success for years. The biggest issue for the Lady Lake location is that the mayor Ed Freeman of Lady Lake (who was selected and nor elected) is dead-set against it. He is from Connecticut and doesn’t understand or care what a great attribute this restaurant will be to the community at large.
The best thing that Portillo’s can and should do is find alternative property in The Villages for the me to build their restaurant. There are plenty of new segments of The Villages being built and all of them would welcome Portillo’s with open arms.