"We want to bring more restaurant variety to the Row," developer Chuck Whittall told GrowthSpotter on Oct. 21. That day Orange County's Development Review Committee approved his plan for the northwest corner of Sand Lake Road and Dr. Phillips Boulevard.
The corner has held a bank branch since 2002. A few doors down, a dining room that opened in 2003 closed in August 2025 for a full renovation and reopened in February. On Via Dellagio Way, a seafood restaurant closed in August after nearly 17 years. Most of what changed on Restaurant Row in 2026 happened at addresses locals have driven past for two decades. On the corner where the change will be largest, residents had already changed the plan before it went to the county.
The Corner That Has Been a Bank Since 2002
GrowthSpotter's history of the property explains why the corner is so recognizable. Unicorp National Developments bought the 1.62-acre parcel at 7625 W. Sand Lake Road from Dr. Phillips Inc. in May 2002. CNLBank opened a branch there that July, and Valley acquired the bank in December 2015. Today the site holds about 9,300 square feet of bank and office space.
The project is called The Pinnacle, and its size has changed several times since it was first proposed.
Size and height | Source | |
|---|---|---|
Today | About 9,300 sq ft of bank and office space | GrowthSpotter, Oct. 2026 |
Earlier version, 2023 | Up to six stories | GrowthSpotter, Oct. 2026 |
March 2026 redesign | About 48,000 sq ft of restaurant and retail, nearly $90 million | GrowthSpotter, March 2026 |
DRC request, Oct. 2026 | Up to 52,000 sq ft, four stories, 70 feet max | GrowthSpotter, Oct. 2026 |
The cut in height came from the neighborhood. In 2023, Dr. Phillips residents, including a board member from Granada Villas, objected to how the earlier version looked and to its height of up to six stories. GrowthSpotter reports that Whittall reworked the project after those objections, and the current request stops at four stories. At the DRC meeting, Chairman Nicolas Thalmueller recalled residents raising concerns about the requested waivers at a community meeting. He said that after "some very robust conversation," they understood what the waivers and the proposed development were.
Plans call for outdoor café seating and a pedestrian plaza that wraps around the building, with parking built in and some spaces on the roof. Whittall told GrowthSpotter he is "targeting restaurants and retailers that are new to the area." He named two concepts in talks, one high-end Asian and one Italian.
The plan also asks for seven exceptions to county standards. Buildings and paving could cover up to 95% of the lot instead of the usual 70%, and required open space would drop from 20% to 5%. In place of standard landscaping, Unicorp proposes planting beds, pots and street furniture along the plaza.
DRC approval is an early step. Here is what still has to happen, according to GrowthSpotter's report:
- Public rezoning hearings, the next stage now that the DRC has signed off.
- Proof that Unicorp has the right to connect to the existing drainage system and that the system can handle the new building. This must come before construction plans can be approved.
- A groundbreaking, which Whittall is targeting for the first or possibly second quarter of 2027, with the building going up in a single phase.
For now, the bank building is still on the corner.
A 2003 Dining Room, Rebuilt Rather Than Replaced
About a block away, a long-running restaurant was renovated rather than replaced. Vines Grille & Wine Bar at 7533 W. Sand Lake Road had been on the Row since 2003. It closed in August 2025 and reopened this year as Vines by H. What Now Orlando reported that The H Hospitality Group, the team behind The H Orlando, fully renovated the 7,800-square-foot space. The West Orange Times & Observer listed the grand-opening celebration for Thursday, Feb. 19.
The H Hospitality Group kept the features longtime guests knew. Live jazz plays nightly, and the restaurant still has a cigar lounge and the garden patio. The two private rooms are the Cypress Room, which seats up to 46, and the Arnold Palmer Room, which seats up to 20. Executive Chef Omer Yildiz was previously executive sous chef at The H Orlando, and the menu adds Mediterranean and European influences to a modern American base. Vines by H is also on Visit Orlando's list of 2026 Magical Dining participants.
The group behind the renovation already has a local following. In Orlando Weekly's Best of Orlando 2026 readers' poll for Best Sand Lake/Dr. Phillips Restaurant, The H Orlando took first place, DOMU second and Seito Sushi third. DOMU had won the category in both 2023 and 2024. So the group that topped this year's poll put its money into one of the Row's oldest addresses instead of a new building.
Seventeen Years on Via Dellagio Way
The year's most noticeable closing was also at a long-established address. Big Fin Seafood Kitchen at 8046 Via Dellagio Way closed on Monday, Aug. 24, after nearly 17 years on Restaurant Row, according to the West Orange Times & Observer. The paper described it as a boat-to-table restaurant known for fresh seafood, oysters and steaks.
No new tenant has been announced for the space. Its location in Dellagio puts it a short drive from the Pinnacle corner, where a developer is actively looking for restaurants new to the area. Whoever takes over the Big Fin space will open on a Row that is changing around it.
The New Arrival Opened on Dr. Phillips Boulevard
Not every change this year happened at an old address. Shake Shack opened on Aug. 18 at 7800 Dr. Phillips Blvd., Suite 300, in The Marketplace at Dr. Phillips, as reported by Florida Today. The Dr. Phillips Chamber held the ribbon cutting that morning.
Even so, it moved into an existing shopping center. Every change on the Row this year has happened inside a building that was already standing, and The Pinnacle would be the first new one.
The Drive to the Row Changed in May
Getting to the Row has also changed. In May 2026, a new loop ramp opened that sends westbound Sand Lake Road traffic and westbound I-4 traffic directly to Turkey Lake Road. With it, drivers on westbound Sand Lake Road can no longer turn left onto southbound Turkey Lake Road, according to the Florida Department of Transportation's project page. The ramp lets out south of the Phillips Crossing shopping plaza on Turkey Lake Road, Spectrum News 13 reported. Before the ramp opened, a Dr. Phillips resident told the station that a way off I-4 to Turkey Lake Road that skips Sand Lake Road would help "the congestion and the traffic flow immensely."
Work at the interchange isn't done. FDOT is rebuilding the I-4 and Sand Lake Road interchange as a diverging diamond, with completion estimated for late 2027. West of there, Orange County has started designing a shared-use path along the south side of Sand Lake Road between Apopka-Vineland Road and Turkey Lake Road, about 1.3 miles, with added turn lanes. The county's project page does not list a construction date. So the road around the Row is being rebuilt on its own timeline, with the interchange due to finish in late 2027, around when The Pinnacle could be under construction.
On the Calendar Before the Holidays
The Dr. Phillips name also leads this year's biggest free holiday event, though it takes place downtown, not on the Row. The Frontyard Holiday Festival at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts runs from Nov. 27 to Dec. 31, 2026. It's free, and the center says plans include live entertainment, performances by local artists and community groups, themed nights, movie screenings, firepits and nightly snowfall.
The next step for the Row's biggest project is The Pinnacle's rezoning hearings, which will be public.
David and Rema Perras follow changes like these on Restaurant Row because they affect daily life in Dr. Phillips and Bay Hill. If you'd like to talk about what the planned redevelopment could mean for the streets around Sand Lake Road, the Perras Team is glad to help. Contact Us.
