There’s been no building permit filed as of yet and there’s no official word from the developer of the “Market Place” just off of Jerry Dove Drive and directly beside the main entrance to White Oaks, but the next business to commit appears to be in place. Recently, a “coming soon” sign was placed on the property fronting the roadway, which is also known as State Route 279.

 

The sign says “Coming Soon” at the top and “Don Patron” at the bottom. That’s not an announcement for an entertainer coming to the area.

 

Instead, Don Patron is a Mexican-themed restaurant. Earlier, Mike Audia, the managing principal for developer Premier Commercial Real Estate Services out of Morgantown that is handling the site, said that the group was in negotiations with several restaurants. One of which, he said, was a regional-based eatery.

It appears that Don Patron fits that bill. It has locations in Morgantown as well as Weston. Whether that is the restaurant in question is unknown. Officials with Premier, including Audia, could not be reached for comment.

 

Bridgeport Community Development Director Randy Spellman was aware of the sign going up. However, he said his office has not received any information on it and, possibly, won’t. Spellman said he wasn’t sure where the new restaurant would be located. But a portion of the development – the new 20,000 square foot building at the back of the property is not in the Bridgeport municipal limits.

 

“It’s possible it could be built on one of the out parcels that they have in their plans where they’ve indicated a restaurant could go,” said Spellman. “As of now, I’m not sure where they plan to build.”

 

Of course, the announcement of a Mexican restaurant in Bridgeport may cause eyebrows to raise and heads to shake. There are currently two existing Mexican Restaurants in Bridgeport – including one that opened within the past few months – and two more within a mile of those in Clarksburg at the Newpointe development.

 

“Certainly, that’s a high number. With this one, it’s a bit removed from the others on the 279 corridor where the need for restaurants right now is still high,” said Spellman. “Cody’s just went on line, work continues the TGI Friday’s and this will add another option.”

 

Spellman recently looked at information relating to restaurants and said the top trend nationally is for Mexican-themed restaurants. He said that trend is bearing “fruit” here in the city.

 

“As with everything, the market will determine if it’s successful. If there are too many then it, or one of the others, won’t succeed. When you get down to it, it’s always a positive to have a business invest in your community,” he said.

 

Spellman said one thing should definitely work in favor of the Don Patron. And that is where it will be situated.

 

“There’s a reason that real estate people say location is everything. They’re going to be situated by United Hospital Center, White Oaks and the workers of the FBI along with the traffic directly off of I-79,” said Spellman. “There will be thousands of potential clients going by there daily.”

 

Developers have been tightlipped about businesses coming to the location. However, it was confirmed previously that a Starbucks will be at the site.

 

Check back to Connect-Bridgeport for more details on this business as they become available.