Last August, the city of Sanford pulled the plug on a downtown development project called Heritage Park that had been in the works for nearly a decade.
The idea was to turn vacant city-owned land in the heart of downtown into a vibrant community of luxury apartments, restaurants and retail. But the developer the city had been working with surprised Sanford city commissioners by presenting plans for affordable studio apartments instead. Not wanting that, commissioners ended up nixing the entire deal and paid the developer nearly $4 million to walk away.
Now the idea of Heritage Park is back, but the city’s leaders don’t necessarily agree on how to proceed with it.
At a City Commission workshop on Monday, city staffers presented plans to issue a request for qualifications, seeking developers who could handle “the development of a phased mixed-use project located in the heart of downtown. This project aims to serve as a vibrant community-centric economic driver, enhancing the local area with a dynamic blend of retail, restaurant, residential and entertainment spaces, complemented by structured parking facilities.”
The city’s latest plans showed a four-story building with retail on the first floor and apartments on the upper three floors – the same design that the previous developer had rejected last year. According to the city’s plans, this proposed building would be accompanied by an adjoining public park. “This versatile community gathering hub is designed for leisure activities, relaxation, performances, festivals and community events,” according to the proposed request for qualifications. The park would include performance stages, art installations and shaded seating areas.
City commissioners listened to the presentation from Assistant City Manager Craig Radzak and other city staffers, and then commissioners debated how realistic the plan was. Commissioner Patrick Austin called it “pie in the sky” and added, “Retail might be a bit of a pipe dream.”
The site in question is arguably one of the most valuable pieces of property in Sanford — more than 5 acres of city-owned land overlooking the Lake Monroe waterfront and marina. The area — bordered by East Seminole Boulevard, Sanford Avenue, East First Street and Hood Avenue — has long been used as parking for downtown businesses and the nearby Seminole County courthouse.
On Monday, city commissioners discussed selling the property to a developer outright and letting the developer build what made financial sense to them, with the city influencing the developer’s plans only through zoning. During the Heritage Park project’s last go-around, the city had previously decided against selling the property so it could have more influence over what would be built.
City officials have worried that a developer would simply build only residential units on the property, without the retail and recreational space that the city would like to see there.
Mayor Art Woodruff was inclined to maintain city control over the property and put out a request for qualifications, seeking developers to work with. “I feel like there are people out there where you can say, we have this piece of land, here’s an outline of the kinds of things we would like to see on it, are you interested in doing something like that, and if so, what will it look like?” Woodruff said.
Planning Director Eileen Hinson told commissioners, “If you sell the property, you don’t have any cards. They can do whatever they want with it. It could be 99 percent residential. You may get a garage, you may not.”
However, she added that before selling the land, the city could rezone the property with restrictive Planned Development zoning. “That way, a developer would have to come before you if they wanted to build something that you don’t want,” she said.
Commissioner Austin advocated for selling the property and recouping the nearly $4 million that the city lost when it killed the city’s previous deal with a developer.
“I think it’s time to maybe be realistic with how the market stands,” Austin said. “If they would just drop the interest rates a little, from what I understand, the commercial construction industry would be on fire. But everybody is sitting tight, everybody’s on pins and needles. They’re waiting to see what’s going to happen.”
At the end of Monday’s work session, commissioners directed staffers to reach out to real estate brokers to get an idea of what the city property might sell for. They plan to take up this issue again in late April.
“At the risk of sounding like I’m kicking it down the road again, I am not in a rush,” the mayor said. “I would rather do it right rather than just do it again.”
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