Velvet Roast: Strategic Site Selection for a New Westfield Coffee Concept

DEAL HIGHLIGHTS

1,708 SF Retail Lease | Westfield, Indiana Secured a highly visible endcap retail location for Velvet Roast in Westfield, combining strong area demographics, accessibility, visibility, and drive-thru capability.

Allies also represented neighboring tenant TC Arena in a 2,516-square-foot lease, bringing the two tenant placements at Bonterra to a combined 4,224 square feet.

Listen to the Case Study Summary

Client Profile

Velvet Roast is a coffee and sweets concept offering specialty coffee, breakfast sandwiches, baked goods, seasonal drinks, desserts, and New York-style cheesecake. As the company prepared to establish its presence in Westfield, Velvet Roast needed more than simply an available retail space. The right location needed to support the way customers would experience the brand, from morning coffee stops to afternoon treats, while providing the visibility and convenience necessary to build a strong customer base.

DEAL HIGHLIGHTS

Allies also represented neighboring tenant TC Arena in a 2,516-square-foot lease, bringing the two tenant placements at Bonterra to a combined 4,224 square feet.

Listen to the Case Study Summary

Velvet Roast & Allies Partnership

Velvet Roast partnered with Allies Commercial Realty for retail tenant representation, working with broker Daniel Santana to identify and secure the right location.

The client’s priorities were clear: a highly trafficked location with excellent visibility, strong surrounding demographics, convenient customer access, and, importantly, the ability to accommodate drive-thru service.

With those criteria established, Allies focused the site-selection process on finding a location that aligned the real estate with Velvet Roast’s business model and long-term growth plans.

Opportunity & Challenge

The Opportunity

Westfield presented a compelling market for the concept.

The city’s population grew from 46,410 in 2020 to an estimated 66,258 in 2025, an increase of more than 40% in just five years. Westfield also reports a median household income of approximately $123,000, providing a strong consumer base for retail, dining, and specialty concepts.

The search ultimately led to Bonterra, near State Road 32 and Shady Nook Road. State Road 32 is one of Westfield’s primary commercial corridors, with traffic volumes ranging from approximately 14,000 to more than 27,000 vehicles per day along portions of the corridor.

The Challenge

For a coffee concept like Velvet Roast, not every available commercial retail space would work. The location needed to combine market fundamentals with specific physical characteristics. Visibility and accessibility were important for capturing everyday customer traffic, while drive-thru capability was a key consideration for the company’s future service model.

The challenge was finding a space that brought those requirements together in one location.

Analysis

Allies evaluated opportunities through the lens of Velvet Roast’s specific business model rather than simply identifying available square footage.

The Bonterra opportunity checked several of the client’s most important boxes.

The 1,708-square-foot endcap suite offered a prominent retail position, convenient customer access, strong visibility, and an existing drive-thru lane. At the same time, Westfield’s rapid population growth and strong household income provided the demographic environment Velvet Roast was seeking.

Together, these factors created a strong alignment between the location and the client’s concept.

The drive-thru lane was particularly important because it gives Velvet Roast the physical infrastructure to add another convenient service channel as the business grows. The café is currently open, with drive-thru service identified by Velvet Roast as a forthcoming offering.

The result was more than a completed lease; it was a location selected around how the business intends to attract, serve, and retain customers.

Meet the Broker Behind this Success Story

Daniel Santana

Broker

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About Daniel

Strategic site selection made the difference for Velvet Roast’s new Westfield location. Our retail broker Daniel Santana evaluated the market against the client’s specific criteria: high visibility, strong demographics, convenient access, and drive-thru capability. That search led to a 1,708-square-foot endcap suite at Bonterra, near State Road 32 and Shady Nook Road, a corridor carrying up to 27,000 vehicles per day in a city that grew more than 40% since 2020.

Our Success Story

Velvet Roast

17576 Alba Lane, Suite 109 | Westfield, Indiana

Allies Commercial Realty helped Velvet Roast secure a 1,708-square-foot endcap suite at Bonterra, providing the business with the high-visibility Westfield location it had been seeking.

Velvet Roast has since opened its café and is welcoming customers for specialty coffee, breakfast items, baked goods, seasonal drinks, and desserts.

The completed transaction demonstrates the value of approaching retail site selection strategically, connecting demographics, traffic, visibility, accessibility, and property characteristics with the client’s business model.

Expanding Allies’ Impact at Bonterra

Daniel also represented neighboring tenant TC Arena in a 2,516-square-foot lease at the same center. TC Arena will be opening soon! Combined, the two placements bring 4,224 SF of retail activity to Bonterra and demonstrate Allies’ ability to help growing businesses identify locations that support their individual concepts and goals.

Results

Strategic Westfield Location: Secured a location within one of Central Indiana’s rapidly growing communities.
Strong Market Demographics: Positioned the concept in a city with an estimated 66,258 residents and median household income of approximately $123,000.
High-Visibility Endcap: Secured a 1,708-square-foot endcap suite offering visibility and convenient customer access.
Drive-Thru Capability: Identified a space with an existing drive-thru lane, an important component of Velvet Roast’s site-selection criteria.
Successful Business Opening: Velvet Roast has opened and is now serving customers from the location.
Additional Retail Placement: Allies also represented TC Arena in a neighboring 2,516-square-foot lease, bringing the two assignments to a combined 4,224 square feet.

Conclusion

Successful commercial retail site selection is about more than finding available space. The right location needs to support the business model, customer experience, operational requirements, and long-term growth strategy. By understanding Velvet Roast’s priorities and evaluating the market through that lens, Allies Commercial Realty helped the company secure a Westfield location that combined strong demographics, visibility, accessibility, and drive-thru capability. Today, Velvet Roast is serving customers from the location selected to support its next stage of growth.

Ready to Write Your Own Success Story?

Whether you’re opening your first location, expanding into a new market, or evaluating your next retail site, Allies Commercial Realty can help you identify and secure a location that supports your business strategy.

Explore Allies Commercial Realty’s retail tenant representation services or connect with Daniel Santana to start your search.