Fast-food, coffee drive-thrus planned along Alico corridor

A 3-mile stretch along Alico Road and Ben Hill Griffin Parkway is set to add several fast-food and drive-thru coffee restaurants, following development order approvals from Lee County. 

Development orders are required before building permits can be issued. Approved projects include a Chick-fil-A, two Wendy’s locations and two drive-thru coffee concepts, Dutch Bros and Roadies Pit Stop. Another drive-thru coffee business, Coffee Rush, is planned less than 2 miles south on Three Oaks Parkway. 

The new Chick-fil-A is planned for the northwest corner of Alico Road and Three Oaks Parkway, in front of Home Depot and about a half-mile west of the existing Chick-fil-A. The new restaurant will feature 92 indoor seats, 20 outdoor seats and a dual drive-thru, compared with a single drive-thru at the current location. Chick-fil-A officials could not be reached for comment. Andres Mizrahi of Bowman Consulting Group in Sunrise, listed as the applicant on the development order, did not return phone messages. 

Two Wendy’s locations are planned: one on the north side of Alico Road near the proposed Chick-fil-A and another on the southwest side of Ben Hill Griffin Parkway, south of Pollo Tropical. 

Matthew Campo of Campo Engineering in Tampa is listed as the development order contact for the Alico Road Wendy’s. He did not return phone messages or an email. QFRM Holdings LLC of Lakewood Ranch is listed on the development order. Tim and Denise Cloe are identified as principals of QFRM Holdings LLC, according to Florida Division of Corporations records. Tim Cloe did not return multiple phone messages. 

“QFRM, Inc. is a quickly growing franchise owning 45 Wendy’s locations from Ellenton to Naples and 43 locations located in and around the Indianapolis area,” according to an employment advertisement on workstream.com. “And we are continuing to grow. Come grow with us!” 

One QFRM entity, QFRM7 LLC, lists the address of the Wendy’s at the southeast corner of U.S. 41 and Corkscrew Road. QFRM purchased 38 Wendy’s restaurants in Florida in 2019 from Bridgeman Foods, according to published reports. Cloe sold 100 Dunkin’ stores in central Florida in December 2022, according to Franchise Times, after being the state’s largest Dunkin’ franchisee. 

For the Wendy’s planned on Ben Hill Griffin Parkway, Rachel Tracey and Jennifer Sheppard of Atwell Inc. are listed as development order contacts. Neither returned phone messages or emails. QFRM is not listed in the Ben Hill Griffin filings. 

Roadies Pit Stop is expected to open in late summer, said owner Bryan Gentile. The drive-thru coffee shop will face competition from two Starbucks locations and other similar concepts in the area. 

“We try not to worry too much about what competitors are doing,” Gentile said. 

In addition to coffee, Roadies offers performance drinks and energy boosters. Gentile said the location benefits from heavy traffic on Alico Road, nearby apartment complexes, Florida Gulf Coast University students and ongoing construction, including the Three Oaks Parkway extension to Daniels Parkway. He said the site could become the company’s flagship location. Roadies currently operates one location at Founder’s Square in Collier County. 

Dutch Bros did not return calls seeking comment about its plans for the Gulf Coast Town Center site. The company has one Fort Myers location and plans to open another in Cape Coral. Founded in Oregon, Dutch Bros is now based in Tempe, Arizona, and is publicly traded. The company operates nearly 1,100 locations and has a goal of reaching 2,000 by 2029, according to its website.