Park Avenue restaurant owner moves business south
Central Park Fusion Cuisine owner Matt Fuller will soon be moving his restaurant endeavors from one end of downtown Hot Springs to another.
Fuller closed the 200 Park Ave. restaurant Saturday after nearly nine and a half years of serving upscale fare in the Spa City. The restaurant’s closing is part of Fuller’s effort to move his restaurant business to property he purchased at 215 E. Grand Ave., which will bear the name 501 PRIME.
Fuller opened Central Park Fusion Cuisine in January 2008 after trying to open a
restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He said that the difficulty of opening a restaurant in Florida, plus the fact that his parents live in Hot Springs Village, led him to open a restaurant in Hot Springs.
“This property became available,” Fuller said of the Park Avenue location. “I came out here, took a look at it and decided I was going to make a go of it.”
Fuller described his nine-plus years of business as “solid and steady.” However, he explained that Central Park Fusion Cuisine, which was only open for dinner, would benefit from being open for lunch, as operating and food costs have risen from what they were at the time of his opening.
Fuller said that the new location makes being open for lunch a more realistic possibility, as Grand Avenue is a more reasonable commute for much of Hot Springs.
“That extra five to seven minutes each way eats into your lunch hour,” Fuller said. “That’s a lot easier, quicker inand-out access.”
Fuller explained that the vacancy of the Majestic Hotel and the Velda Rose Hotel is another reason for the relocation. He said that the two hotels, which were initially slated for redevelopment and located directly across from Central Park Fusion Cuisine at the time of its opening, could have brought in more business.
“If those things had happened, this would have been such an ideal location to stay at,” Fuller said.
Instead of developing, the Majestic closed, endured a fire and was torn down, and the Velda Rose was gutted for renovation but not improved further. The vacant hotel properties meant that the potential for restaurant customers decreased.
Fuller looked at about half a dozen properties in which to open 501 PRIME. The property he landed on is an 1940s-era, two-story storefront located on the northeast corner of Grand and Malvern avenues — an intersection that is currently populated with fast food and carryout restaurants that have brought considerable traffic to the area.
The traffic, combined with the city’s plans to improve the appearance of Malvern Avenue, have left Fuller excited at the prospect of moving to the new location.
“National chains realized that there was a value in that corner,” Fuller said. “There is, especially knowing what’s gonna happen with that being such a major artery coming in,” with the widening of Highway 70 east.
The 501 PRIME location doubles the space of Central Park Fusion Cuisine, with two stories, each with 4,000 square feet, in which to build the restaurant. Fuller said he plans to invest $1.5 million into renovating the now-empty building.
Once completed, the restaurant’s downstairs area will feature a wine lounge, New Orleans-style oyster bar and wood fire grill, while the upstairs area will serve to host large gatherings and possibly feature an upscale buffet and TV.
Fuller hopes to open 501 PRIME in October. He said that opening the restaurant in the fall would give him enough time to perfect his business as much as possible before the tourist influx of the 2018 live race meet.
“They all want to come in at seven or eight o’clock, right after the derby’s over with,” Fuller said of customers that choose to eat out after the races. “You’ve gotta figure out how to handle it, and every single restaurant in town has the same exact issue.”
In opening his new restaurant, Fuller hopes to bring his repeat customers down south with him. He said that his loyal customer base will hopefully give him a good start when he opens.
“Moving forward to the new place, one of the best things is that I’ve established a reputation here in town,” Fuller said. “I can build on a customer base that I’ve already established.”