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r:=KDO== Developer turning U.S. 1 corridor into entertainment hot spot BY IAN LOVE VERO BEACH NEWSWEEKLY
Michael Rechter’s vision is starting to take shape to turn the Majestic and Indian River plazas into the entertainment place to be in Vero Beach. Rechter has been hard at work on the U.S. 1 properties he purchased for a total of $18 million after the 2005 hurricanes all but left the once valuable real estate an unattractive, lifeless collection of businesses. He has just completed the first phase of his plans, turning the Majestic Movie Theatre into an upscale attraction with offerings from new Hollywood releases to video performances from New York City’s Metropolitan Opera and plays from The National Theatre in Washington, D.C. He has also turned the Vero Bowl into a state-of-the art bowling center with a $2.5 million upgrade he undertook himself when he could not get the previous owner to do what Rechter considered the right thing. The Vero Bowl renovation earned Rechter a front page spread in the trade magazine International Bowling Industry. The story by Robin Breuner starts out: “Vero Bowl is a Cinderella story. The rundown, neglected, diamond-in-the-rough bowling center meets Prince Charming and is magically transformed.” The bowling center has become Rechter’s vision of an entertainment center that attracts leagues and families, but also appeals to a wider crowd with a bustling sports bar and restaurant quality food that you would never find in the bowling alleys you frequented as a child. Rechter will cap his Vero Bowl
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The future home of Izzyban, an Asian fusion restaurant that developer Michael Rechter says will be “like nothing Vero has ever seen.” renovation with the opening soon of a video arcade connected with the bowling alley that will attract young and old alike. “It is going to be gorgeous,” Rechter said. “It will have all the state of the art games, but it will also have things like skeeball. It will appeal to kids of all ages.” With much of phase one of his development plan complete with the very successful launches of the bowling alley and theatre, Rechter is turning his attention to the development of the side-by-side properties as the date night entertainment hot spot in Indian River County. “What I see is a place that is welllit and secure at night and safe and has different options for people to choose from so you can take your wife out or your children and there are a variety of things to do that are quality destinations,” he said. “If you have the horizon of a year or
two, someone will be able to turn into that parking lot, park their car and do many different things, whether it be to play pool, go see a movie, go bowling, have a cocktail, or have a nice dinner with a choice of multiple locations. That to me is the beginning of a great entertainment destination for Vero Beach.” Work is underway for an upscale billiards club expected to open by the third quarter and Rechter said he has held initial talks for bringing in a family-fun indoor inflatable party play center. What really has Rechter excited at the moment is the planned opening by Labor Day of the Asian fusion restaurant Izziban in a strip just to the south of the bowling alley. Chef Diane Lee owns another Izziban in Orlando which former Orlando Sentinel food critic Scott Joseph has called his favorite sushi restaurant in central Florida. “I am so pumped up about this
place,” Rechter said. “It is going to be a state of the art sushi bar, like nothing Vero has ever seen. There will be a very trendy interior with a very modern floor plan. There will be a section for booths and between them will be these panels and there will be water flowing and LED lights. It creates a very cool, modern feel.” Owner-Chef Diane Lee said the Vero Beach location came to her in a dream. Her brother lives in Sebastian and was helping her scout places to open another Izziban in Indian River County. She awoke from a dream one night and had a vision of a place next to a movie theatre and told her brother to go find it. As he was more familiar with Sebastian he was unable to locate the spot until a few weeks later when he happened by the Majestic Theatre and saw the work being done on the Plaza. Rechter had been plan-