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Construction is underway on Waterfront Taco Factory at 2 Prince St. in Old Town, where the former Big Wheel Bikes building is currently boarded up, its windows and doors sealed with plywood as workers transform the space into a waterfront restaurant.
Owner Murray Bonitt did not respond to a request for comment from The Alexandria Brief on a construction timeline or anticipated opening date.
The project's city permit carries a key deadline. Under the terms of Special Use Permit #2024-00070, approved December 13, 2024, construction must begin and be diligently pursued within 18 months — a deadline that falls this June — or the permit becomes void.
Concept designs filed with the city show a dramatically transformed two-story building with a white brick exterior, red accents, operable garage-style doors opening to the street, and a rooftop deck with a retractable sunshade overlooking The Strand. Total seating would reach 91 — 51 on the ground floor and 40 on the rooftop — with the restaurant operating seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. and serving an estimated 500 customers daily.
Bonitt, a co-owner of nearby Cooper Mill at 10 Duke St., is the applicant of record. The property sits entirely within a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area, a factor that city environmental staff flagged during the permit review process.
Big Wheel Bikes, which had occupied the building since 1971, relocated to 110 S. Union St. after the property ownership moved forward with restaurant plans.
The Alexandria Brief will update this story as more information becomes available.
