Darden vet teams up to develop lifestyle centers

Nation's Restaurant News,  Jan 7, 2008  

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ORLANDO, FLA. -- A former operations specialist with Darden Restaurants' Seasons 52 and Bahama Breeze chains has teamed up with a developer here to open "nighttime entertainment districts" studded with upscale-casual restaurants.

Doug Doran left Darden in November after 11 years to become a principal and president of the venture, Group Four Restaurants. The company said it planned to develop a 300,000-square-foot lifestyle center in the MetroWest area of Orlando, with similar facilities to follow in Windermere, Lake Nona and Maitland, all in central Florida.

Group Four indicated that the first complex, part of the Veranda Park center, would sport five restaurants, a "sophisticated adult nightclub" and a movie theater with drink service. Two of the restaurants would open by the third quarter of 2008, said Doran, who intends to oversee the restaurants' design, development, construction and operation. The concepts could be replicated elsewhere, he said. Doran did not rule out the possibility of leasing space in the centers to other restaurateurs.

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