VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Construction crews are making progress at the Oceanfront, rebuilding a structure that was destroyed by fire last summer.
On the evening of July 11, 2023, flames and smoke took over the building at 27th Street and Atlantic Avenue.
It destroyed the King of the Sea restaurant, Maple Tree Pancake House and T-Shirt Factory.
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No one was hurt, but it took more than 75 firefighters to extinguish the fire.
Not long after the fire, owner and developer Matthew Vakos, CEO of Vakos Development Company, told News 3 reporter Angela Bohon that it had been in the family for decades and he planned to rebuild.
Now, visitors and residents of the Oceanfront are seeing that promise come through. Brennan Thabault works nearby and noticed a stark difference recently.
“Two days later, I’m like, ‘Look at that, they’re building – fast!’” he said. "So, I’m impressed."
Watch previous coverage: 75+ firefighters put out 3-alarm fire along Atlantic Avenue in Virginia Beach
Vakos agreed that we’re really starting to see things move along, but explained there’s a lot of permitting and other work that’s not so visible.
“It’s only been working on the second week or erecting the steel,” he said. “Of course, a lot of work is in the ground that you really don’t see, but once we get off the ground, things have been moving along pretty rapidly.”
The T-shirt Factory is returning, according to Vakos. In fact, he says that it will take up three of the retail spaces in the middle of the building.
The owners of the Maple Tree Pancake House retired, he added. They’re now looking for someone to operate another breakfast restaurant on one side of the building. There will also be another restaurant in place of King of the Sea; however, owners are trying to keep the name of that business a surprise for a bit longer.
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The new design is modern and more high-tech than the old building.
“With doing a steel building like this, we absolutely expect it to be much safer, much more fire resistant,” Vakos stated.
He said the restaurants will take longer to open, but he hopes the store can open its doors around the time of the one-year anniversary of the fire.
