The Kissimmee site at John Young Parkway and US 192 is the Bronx, NY company's second in Central Florida. Golden Krust opened its first 2,300-sf restaurant Oct. 1 in Mandarin Plaza, 5510 W. Colonial Dr. in west Orlando. That lease was also for 10 years and valued at $400,000, as GlobeSt.com previously reported.

Restaurant brokers Jim Densmore and William Pellatt of Signature Realty Commercial brokered both leases and selected the sites for Golden Krust. Densmore tells GlobeSt.com he is not surprised by the $30-per-sf rent Golden Krust will be paying at its newest location. "The leasing range depends on how much sales generation we project from that specific location," he says.

Prime restaurant sites are difficult to find these days in fast-developing Central Florida locations but they can be found with intense searches, the broker says. "We look for such things as which side of the road the restaurant will be located, neighborhood, demographics, traffic, rooftops, ethnicity, income and age" of residents," Densmore notes.

Golden Krust, headed by Zorida Pritpal, has doubled its franchise count to 60 from 30 last year. Pellatt of Signature Realty says the Golden Krust concept is catching on because it is "broad appealing" and "represents a viable dining alternative to the numerous mom-and-pops that dominate the market."

The company has franchises operating in New York, California, Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut and the Carolinas. Golden Krust's Pritpal anticipates the franchise count will grow to 250 in five years. The company's subsidiary, Golden Krust Franchising Inc., is trying to open three stores per month, Pritpal says.