North Lauderdale redevelopment

Old Walmart site may get new retailers, La Brasa restaurant and other eateries

New stores and restaurants will be developed on the land off McNab Road in North Lauderdale that was part of a former vegetable field.

The North Lauderdale City Commission has tentatively approved the Latin restaurant La Brasa Rotisserie & Grill and an additional 3,700-square-foot space for retail or restaurants on vacant land next to a Walmart Supercenter.

The city wanted to focus on getting new eateries in town, Assistant City Manager Mike Sargis said.

“North Lauderdale wasn’t known for a lot of restaurants,” he said. “You have to go out of the city” to eat.

The move is part of a development plan already in the works. Sargis said a Peter Piper Pizza and Spin Car Wash have already been approved for construction, which is pending. A nearby shopping center with space for about a halfdozen stores, including a T-Mobile and a nail salon, and two Asian-themed restaurants have applied for licenses.

“These are the requests we’ve heard from residents. They want more sit-down restaurants in North Lauderdale,” Commissioner Jerry Graziose said. “And there will be more job opportunities for the residents.”

North Lauderdale’s Walmart Supercenter rose at the site of the West McNab U-Pick, which closed in 1998. People flocked there to pick yellow and green squash, tomatoes, peppers, beans, pickles, zucchini, eggplant, onions and, most popular, strawberries.

Walmart bought a 40-acre plot in 2006 for almost $17 million, according to county property records. In 2007, the company proposed a town center called The Commons that was going to feature the Supercenter, an 80-room hotel, restaurants and 36,000 square feet of additional shopping. But that summer, then-City Manager Richard Sala complained to the City Commission that Walmart told him they were having trouble finding restaurants and stores to move in next door, as they were contractually obligated to do, because “nobody wants to come to North Lauderdale.”

The entire project seemed to be in jeopardy until both sides agreed that Walmart could build just its store, for the time being. Walmart opened Feb. 1, 2013. County property records show Arena Capital LLC has bought four parcels from Walmart since 2016. The La Brasa parcel is the last one available for construction, Sargis said.

A spokesman for Arena confirmed Monday that sale of the land designated for La Brasa has not closed yet, but it will be “imminent.”

“The economy has gotten a lot better,” Sargis said. He also credited the developer with finding companies willing to open there.

“They found value in North Lauderdale,” he said.

Mayor Jack Brady said he feels nostalgia for the old farm. He used to pick strawberries and tomatoes.

But he has no regrets: “It’s the best thing for all our residents.”

The commission voted on the project last week, and is expected to consider it again for final approval in September, according to the City Clerk’s Office.