The Alchemist Café closed Tuesday as its leafy Wilton Manors garden is slated to make way for a six-story, 190-unit apartment complex. Owner Lucia Nunez says the loss of the site, home to seven rainbow eucalyptus trees, a rooster named Freddie Mercury, and a cat named Cow, has left her and her team devastated.
“We’re heartbroken,” Nunez told Axios, describing the garden café as the team’s “slice of heaven.” The outlet reports the other businesses that once shared the property had already relocated before The Alchemist’s own closure this week, and that Nunez called the space a peaceful botanical garden tucked away from the noise of daily life. Located just a few miles from downtown Fort Lauderdale, the café had become a fixture for both locals and visiting tourists since Nunez opened it with her sister, Maria Elaine, back in 2014.
From Instagram Darling to Redevelopment Casualty
The Alchemist rode the Instagram and avocado-toast wave that defined café culture in 2014, building a following through word of mouth rather than advertising, per the same Axios account. Its signature iced coffee, made with condensed milk, brown sugar, and coffee ice cubes, became a calling card alongside its menu of slicers and loaded toasts. Staff famously greeted every customer who walked in with “welcome home,” according to Nunez.
The garden itself was part of a larger bohemian plaza once known as Eucalyptus Gardens and more recently branded as The Yard at Wilton Manors. According to WLRN, the plaza also housed La Mexicana Taco Bar and other businesses, meaning the neighborhood’s loss extends well beyond a single business.
A Development Deal Years in the Making
Developer Kaplan Residential acquired The Alchemist’s property in 2023, part of a larger land assembly that, per Fort Lauderdale Magazine, ultimately totaled five contiguous parcels and 3.6 acres, including addresses on NE 13th Avenue and NE 24th Street. Wilton Manors approved Kaplan’s plan for the apartment building in 2024, per Axios, with the project — originally dubbed Generation at Wilton Manors — set to include 190 units and 8,500 square feet of commercial space, along with 300 parking spaces, according to Fort Lauderdale Magazine’s reporting…