Austin’s Coffee in Winter Park sold days before city-ordered closure
Austin’s Coffee, the endangered Winter Park fixture that brews up java with a helping of arts and entertainment, has been sold and is planned to reopen at a larger location down the street.
Richard Whitmer, one of the four new owners, said the sale closed Monday but didn’t want to reveal the specific address yet. He did say it’s on Fairbanks Avenue east of Interstate 4 about a mile from the current location.
He said the plan is to close at 929 W. Fairbanks Ave. on Oct. 25, less than a week before the shop’s landlord, the city of Winter Park, had ordered it to vacate. The new Austin’s would have a soft opening at the new location Nov. 1.
“Well obviously we’re being a good bit ambitious, but we’re hoping for Nov. 1,” Whitmer said.
He said the new Austin’s will be much larger than the current one — 2,400 square feet compared to about 900 — with a bigger kitchen and stage.
A longtime Central Floridian who until 2022 was an owner of now-closed La-Kuma Coffee in Longwood, Whitmer said he wants to continue the 25-year cultural legacy of the quirky, beloved shop.
“The community and all of the people who help us out throughout the week are one of the most important parts of Austin’s,” he said. “Supporting that and propping it up moving forward are going to be a big priority for us.”
Winter Park has coveted the land where the shop sits for decades, in part to help relieve nasty traffic congestion at a nearby intersection. The city purchased the acre of land beneath it and the adjacent businesses for $4 million last year, then didn’t renew the shop’s lease and set an Oct. 31 closure date.
Austin’s is the closest business to the troublesome intersection. The city plans to add dedicated left-turn lanes (in both directions) from Fairbanks to Denning Drive. It also wants to expand Martin Luther King Jr. Park, improve drainage in an area which often floods in heavy rains, and beautify Lake Rose (created by a sinkhole).
The property where Austin’s is located also includes the Chef Michael Collantes-owned and Michelin-starred Japanese restaurant Soseki, Bar Kada sake lounge and Perla’s Pizza as well as nail salon Nail Alchemy. Leases for Soseki and Bar Kada go until Dec. 31, 2028; Perla’s runs until Feb. 28, 2031 with extensions; and Nail Alchemy is until Feb. 28, 2028 with an extension.