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Omar Elshami's Sweet Spot Creamery is planned to open in one of the two suites occupied by Lakeside Barbeque. (Jack Jacobs photo)

One of the relatively new owners of Lakeside Barbeque is taking over part of the restaurant's existing space to serve something sweeter.

Sweet Spot Creamery is expected to open in late March in one of the two storefronts occupied by the barbecue joint at Lakeside Towne Center.

The ice cream shop will operate out of the D suite at 6920 Lakeside Ave., while Lakeside Barbeque will remain open in the adjacent E suite on the end of the retail strip, said Omar Elshami, who is behind both businesses.

The upcoming Sweet Spot is the latest concept from Elshami. In addition to being a part-owner of Lakeside Barbeque, the 19-year-old also owns NarWhals Rolled Ice Cream in Carytown.

Sweet Spot is planned to have up to 25 flavors of hand-dipped ice cream, as well as milkshakes and Nutella doughnuts. The shop is also planned to offer Egyptian desserts such as basbousa, a syrup-soaked semolina confection similar to a brownie.

Elshami said he felt there was room in the Lakeside area for a new dessert option, which inspired him to launch Sweet Spot. While it has a similar name, Elshami's shop is not affiliated with the separately owned Sweet Spot Ice Cream Cafe in Shockoe Bottom.

Elshami's shop will serve Sweet Summits ice cream, a product of New York-based GlacierPoint Enterprises. It is expected to have indoor seating for 15 people as well as an outdoor patio. Elshami plans to do birthday parties and events and eventually get a truck to sell ice cream on the road.

He said work on converting the space is underway and is expected to cost $22,000. He said Lakeside Barbeque will continue to have dedicated seating but added that diners will also be able to sit in the ice cream parlor's space.

Sweet Spot will take one of the two storefronts that have made up Lakeside Barbeque. (Photo courtesy Lakeside Barbeque)

Work on Sweet Spot is coming after Elshami, his dad Mohamed Elshami and Hisham Alomari bought Lakeside Barbeque from Jarrett Douma in September.

Douma acquired the restaurant about a year beforehand with Chris Strattman, but was the sole owner by the time of the sale to the Elshamis and Alomari. The restaurant had been an outpost of the Virginia Barbeque franchise and later operated independently under that name before being rebranded under Douma.

The younger Elshami said he saw the business was for sale and pitched an acquisition of the restaurant to his father as a venture that they could go in on together.

"I was scrolling on Facebook and I saw that there was a business for sale, Lakeside Barbeque. I talked to my dad and was like, 'Hey, I think we should really do this,'" he said. "So I put up some money with him."

Sweet Spot would be the second ice cream brand for Omar Elshami, who bought NarWhals last year. He said he opted to launch a new sweets brand in Lakeside because he already has plans to open a NarWhals relatively close by in Glen Allen.

Omar Elshami developed an early interest in entrepreneurship that he attributed to growing up in Section 8 housing and a desire to be financially independent.

"I've always been an entrepreneur, since I was 14 years old. I would always figure out how to make money, how I can not have to rely on my parents," he said. "A lot of the motivation really comes from not having it. When I was younger, it was just me, my mom and my sister, and we didn't live in a good spot."

He got his start reselling sneakers online and to local stores. While still a student at Glen Allen High School, where he graduated last spring, he launched power washing company Wizard Wash and used the company's profits to finance the acquisition of NarWhals.

Omar Elshami said that his drive and ability to invest business profits into new ventures was setting him up for success without the need for a university degree.

"It's definitely possible to go chase after dreams and not go the college route. You just have to be ambitious and hardworking," he said.

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