Omega Pizza operated at the northeast corner of 22nd & South for many years, offering lousy pizza but an extensive selection of slightly overpriced beer. It closed its doors a few weeks ago and now its old home is being demolished, to be replaced by a five-story mixed-use building with a Wawa on the first floor. We last updated you on this project when it came before CCRA over the summer, and we can tell you that it got approval from the ZBA back in August. Now, Alterra Property Group is moving forward with their plan for a new building with 29 apartments, a handful of parking spaces, and the aforementioned Wawa. If you'd like to pay your final respects to Omega Pizza, you'd better get over there soon.
We reached out to the developers to ask for final renderings of the project but they're still finalizing exactly what the building will look like. At this point, all we can show you is an old image from when they came to CCRA, and now we'll have to patiently wait a couple months to get a final answer on what we can expect in terms of the building's appearance.
Across the street, on the northwest corner, the former L2 is progressing nicely in its renovation into a Starbucks. While we (somewhat selfishly) aren't entirely excited by this tenant, we can say without hesitation that they're dramatically upgrading the look of the building. Eliminating all that stucco on the first floor really makes a big difference, no? We don't know how long it'll be until they're ready to open, but we can't imagine they're very far away.
With a CVS on the southeast corner of this intersection, 22nd & South will soon become the corporate epicenter of South Street West. While this is a bit depressing for people who are strong advocates for small, locally owned businesses, it's a very strong indication that the corridor has turned a major corner and is now attracting retail tenants that wouldn't have considered South Street West previously.
On the other hand, let's hear it for soon being able to get a late night hoagie to go on this side of South Street. Wawa hoagies forever!