Local vendor offers $750,000 for CRA‑owned restaurant site; board to solicit competing proposals

An unsolicited offer to buy a CRA‑owned former restaurant drew board discussion at the March 11, 2025 City of Opa-locka CRA meeting.

Executive Director Jason Walker told the board that Jorge Martinez of Doctor Greene's Fruits, Vegetables and More submitted a letter offering $750,000 to purchase the property the CRA had acquired the previous year for $650,000. "Mister Martinez sent a letter offering to buy the Chinese restaurant from us for $750,000, which is a hundred thousand dollar profit from last year when we purchased it," Walker said.

Staff said the CRA does not have to act immediately. The standard next steps described by staff were to notify the public by publishing notice (staff identified a 30-day minimum public notice period), solicit competing proposals, form a review committee to evaluate offers, and obtain an appraisal as part of the process. Walker said staff would return to the board with a draft resolution to authorize those steps and would leave timing choices (for example, whether to advertise for 30, 45 or 60 days) to the board.

Board members generally expressed support for the concept of a grocery or produce market at that corner, and several raised operational questions about parking, trash management and whether the prospective buyer would participate in community garden or local food-access programming. The director said Martinez had indicated willingness to support the CRA’s garden efforts and local sourcing.

Staff also reminded the board that recent improvements at the site included interior demolition, ordering impact windows (staff cited roughly $30,000 for windows), and preparatory site work; staff said those investments were made before the unsolicited offer arrived and would affect negotiations.

Ending

The board asked staff to return at the next meeting with a proposed resolution for public solicitation and to include an appraisal and the standard public-notice language.