Danburg Hotlist

For the thousands of employees working in office buildings along Congress Avenue between Boca Raton and Delray Beach, finding a quick lunchtime meal isn't easy. While some of the larger companies offer in-house cafeterias, outside choices are limited to a handful of fast food outlets and even fewer full-menu restaurants. For the past four years, Boca Raton developer Bill Knight has kept those office workers, which he estimates at about 75,000, in mind while developing his NexStore marketplace.

In 1994, Knight lobbied the Legislature to build the $4 million Interstate 95 interchange at Congress Avenue. Today that interchange spills into the Peninsula Corporate Center and into Knight's NexStore marketplace and gas station in Boca Raton, which is scheduled to open Dec. 6.
Knight aspires for NexStore to resemble the Balducci's and Dean & Deluca epicure destinations in New York City, offering sushi alongside American comfort food and international beers. Knight's NexStore will be 12,500 square-feet and include its own bakery, deli, salad and sushi bars, and prepared dinners to go. The business slogan: "The joy of not cooking."

"Anybody can sell gas," said Knight. "We're working for this to become a destination."

The gas station will provide free valet parking, two pick-up windows, a covered seating area for 120 and parking spaces for 220 cars. Inside, a portion of the market will be open 24 hours a day. The market and gas station will employ about 180 people, said Knight.

Knight opened his first gas station in 1961 in Boca Raton and called it The Corner Store, adding more and more food with each station he opened. Six years ago, he sold his seven stations and began working on the current NexStore concept. The newest station, which will sell gas under the NexStore brand, will have 20 pumps, making it the largest in the area. All the food sold in the market also will be sold under the NexStore label, with the exception of brand name beverages such as Starbuck's coffee. NexStore General Manager Geoffrey Wexler says the dinners available at the market have been engineered especially for reheating. "They're not meant to eat immediately," he said. "The food is cooked to a point where it's just about done so that the reheating process doesn't over-cook the food."

Knight says the quick turnaround time and large sales volume during the week will sustain the market on the weekends when the nearby office buildings are empty. Construction of 155 townhouses by Lennar Homes will also provide a customer base within walking distance.
Also within walking distance is the headquarters of NCCI Holdings Inc. and its 900 employees. About half of them eat lunch at the company's in-house cafeteria, said Alfredo Guerra, the company's chief financial officer, but those seeking lunch outside the office spend much of their lunch hour traveling to find food, he said. "We provide our cafeteria as a service so that our employees can save time," said Guerra. "There aren't a lot of choices around here otherwise, so this place will be a positive thing for us." Other potential customers include the 2,300 employees at the Office Depot corporate campus in Delray Beach and the 1,200 IBM employees in its Boca Raton offices.