The owner of The Boathouse at Rocketts Landing is opening another location in Short Pump Town Center. Photos by Michael Thompson.
For his third location, a local restaurateur is setting sail for Short Pump.
Kevin Healy plans to open a new Boathouse restaurant in the spring at Short Pump Town Center in the Hyatt House hotel building.
Healy has a 10-year lease on the 5,800-square-foot space that is set to go under construction later this fall.
The Short Pump addition will join Healy’s riverfront Boathouse locations at Rocketts Landing and on the Swift Creek Reservoir in Midlothian. He also owns Casa del Barco – Spanish for boathouse – at 320 S. 12th St. on the canal downtown.
The move to Short Pump takes Healy into competitive waters where he’ll be surrounded by a cornucopia of restaurants, most of which are regional and national chains, both in and outside mall.
Kevin Healy
“Am I nervous? Yes, I’m nervous. But that is a good thing sometimes – it brings out the best,” Healy said. “I’m nervous and I’m confident.”
Healy became the owner of the Midlothian Boathouse in 1988 and opened at Rocketts Landing in 2009. Casa del Barco opened last year.
He said the Short Pump menu would be similar to the Rocketts Landing and Midlothian locations, but it will be his only restaurant that isn’t close to the water.
He plans to figure the term “dry dock” somewhere in the Short Pump location’s tagline. Healy said his love of the water comes from growing up on a lake in upstate New York.
Healy said his confidence in taking on the Short Pump restaurant market comes from his customers’ willingness to drive 15 to 20 minutes from the Short Pump area to eat at his other restaurants.
The new Boathouse will fill the vacant space at the bottom of the Hyatt House hotel at Short Pump.
“We have a service that tells us where credit cards have originated by zip code,” Healy said. “We know the Short Pump area is a big contributor to Rocketts Landing and Sunday Park.”
Healy, 60, wouldn’t say how much it will cost to move into Short Pump. He did say he is financing the project with his own money and help from a to-be-determined bank.
The space The Boathouse is taking over had been vacant, and Healy said the mall’s representatives reached out to him last year.
“They explained they were doing renovations and that over the years they’ve had several people interested in the space,” Healy said. “Their market focus groups said that the trend is bringing more local restaurants into spaces like that, and they felt with their current mix of restaurants, a seafood or a Mexican restaurant would work well. Since I have both, I seemed like a good fit.”
Short Pump Town Center is owned by QIC, Forest City Enterprises and local developers Pruitt Associates.
The 11-year old mall’s other sit-down restaurant tenants include a Lehja Indian restaurant, Baker’s Crust, California Pizza Kitchen, Firebirds Wood Fired Grill and Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery.
The owner of The Boathouse at Rocketts Landing is opening another location in Short Pump Town Center. Photos by Michael Thompson.
For his third location, a local restaurateur is setting sail for Short Pump.
Kevin Healy plans to open a new Boathouse restaurant in the spring at Short Pump Town Center in the Hyatt House hotel building.
Healy has a 10-year lease on the 5,800-square-foot space that is set to go under construction later this fall.
The Short Pump addition will join Healy’s riverfront Boathouse locations at Rocketts Landing and on the Swift Creek Reservoir in Midlothian. He also owns Casa del Barco – Spanish for boathouse – at 320 S. 12th St. on the canal downtown.
The move to Short Pump takes Healy into competitive waters where he’ll be surrounded by a cornucopia of restaurants, most of which are regional and national chains, both in and outside mall.
Kevin Healy
“Am I nervous? Yes, I’m nervous. But that is a good thing sometimes – it brings out the best,” Healy said. “I’m nervous and I’m confident.”
Healy became the owner of the Midlothian Boathouse in 1988 and opened at Rocketts Landing in 2009. Casa del Barco opened last year.
He said the Short Pump menu would be similar to the Rocketts Landing and Midlothian locations, but it will be his only restaurant that isn’t close to the water.
He plans to figure the term “dry dock” somewhere in the Short Pump location’s tagline. Healy said his love of the water comes from growing up on a lake in upstate New York.
Healy said his confidence in taking on the Short Pump restaurant market comes from his customers’ willingness to drive 15 to 20 minutes from the Short Pump area to eat at his other restaurants.
The new Boathouse will fill the vacant space at the bottom of the Hyatt House hotel at Short Pump.
“We have a service that tells us where credit cards have originated by zip code,” Healy said. “We know the Short Pump area is a big contributor to Rocketts Landing and Sunday Park.”
Healy, 60, wouldn’t say how much it will cost to move into Short Pump. He did say he is financing the project with his own money and help from a to-be-determined bank.
The space The Boathouse is taking over had been vacant, and Healy said the mall’s representatives reached out to him last year.
“They explained they were doing renovations and that over the years they’ve had several people interested in the space,” Healy said. “Their market focus groups said that the trend is bringing more local restaurants into spaces like that, and they felt with their current mix of restaurants, a seafood or a Mexican restaurant would work well. Since I have both, I seemed like a good fit.”
Short Pump Town Center is owned by QIC, Forest City Enterprises and local developers Pruitt Associates.
The 11-year old mall’s other sit-down restaurant tenants include a Lehja Indian restaurant, Baker’s Crust, California Pizza Kitchen, Firebirds Wood Fired Grill and Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery.
Be careful…many of the Short Pump restaurants aren’t hitting their revenue goals. Too much competition. And more keeps coming.