But two national chains at least, never heard that news and are scouring the four-county weed fields here, looking for suitable construction sites with suitable price tags.

Nashville, TN-based Captain D's, with six operating units in Orlando, wants to beef up market share with an envisioned convoy of 45 franchised-owned restaurants throughout Central Florida over the next five years.

Fired Up Inc. of Austin, TN and Al dente of Tampa, FL plan to jointly develop 25 Johnny Carino's Country Italian Restaurants in Florida over the next nine years. Al dente operates 20 Applebee's restaurants in the Tampa area, 80 miles west of Downtown Orlando.

But they may be shocked at the sticker prices on some of the most desirable dirt, area brokers tell GlobeSt.com.

"Outparcels at some of the best-placed suburban shopping centers could be running from $12 per sf to $15 per sf or more," Dean Fritchen, senior broker at Arvida Realty Services Commercial Division in suburban Winter Park, FL, tells GlobeSt.com. That would equate from $522,720 per acre to $653,400 per acre.

"Now you're beginning to talk some big bucks," Tom D. Cook, vice president/development, Carter & Associates-ONCOR, Orlando, tells GlobeSt.com. "If they're looking to build Downtown, the price of the land could be even higher, assuming they could find a strong location."

Captain D's and the proposed Johnny Carino's outlets are envisioned by their developers in a line from Orlando to Daytona Beach, 50 miles northeast of the city; and to Melbourne, Merritt Island and Cocoa Beach in Brevard County, 60 miles southeast of Downtown Orlando.

Steven M. Ekovich, vice president/regional manager, Marcus & Millichap, feels Orlando, particularly along its prime International Drive tourist corridor, is saturated with chain restaurant properties.

In a previous first-of-the-year market assessment, Ekovich told GlobeSt.com "major single-tenant construction will likely not occur for at least another year."

If chains such as Captain D's and Johnny Carino's are seeking the high end of the customer base, however, they will need to comb the southwest Orlando submarket for sites, a Grubb & Ellis Co. first-quarter market outlook suggests.

That's where Bloomingdale's, Macy's and Nieman Marcus will anchor the Mall at Millenia, a 1.3 million-sf venture being jointly developed by Forbes Co. and Tabuman Centers Inc., both Michigan-based. The mall's opening is tentatively set for 2003.