Winter Garden Commissioners are skeptical about a developer’s proposal to build a $300 million mixed-use sports district, but they agreed to kick off negotiations to see if it’s feasible.
The commission voted 4-1 on Thursday to negotiate with the company and potentially partner on the project, which would be anchored by a 5,000-seat soccer stadium but also could bring more housing, a convention hotel and much-needed recreational facilities to the city.
The city is willing to discuss a potential redevelopment of 70 acres just west of State Road 429 at 1500 and 1700 E Plant St. with Orlando-based Federal Finance and its affiliate Federal Sports Alliance. The developer submitted a Letter of Intent to the city for a sports-anchored district on the site but hasn’t yet filed a formal application.
A conceptual site plan from Level Eleven Studio calls for 281,000 square feet of commercial space, 375 multifamily units, 100 senior-living units, 53 townhomes, and a five-story hotel with 160 rooms and 20,000 square feet of convention space. The project would also include 40 second-floor live/work units above ground-floor retail, bringing the total number of proposed residential units to 568. In addition to surface-level parking and dedicated parking for residents, the development would incorporate a public parking garage with 800 parking spaces.
The master plan calls for a range of amenities that would be open to the public: nine acres of public flex-use recreational fields for soccer and baseball, eight pickleball courts, three padel courts, a roughly 1.2-acre park, and multimodal trails encircling ponds at the southern portion of the property.
Materials submitted to the city call the proposed stadium a “professional soccer stadium,” but the developer didn’t elaborate on how the stadium would be used. Winter Garden spokesperson Jayne Behrle told GrowthSpotter that the city and developer are still evaluating the specific use of the stadium.
Orlando-based commercial real estate firm Strates Group owns the property. The project would likely involve a public-private partnership, with Federal Finance proposing that the city own and manage the recreational fields and courts.
With the commission’s approval, the city will now enter into negotiations with the developer. The discussions will involve a potential public-private partnership, potential grants, tax incentives, or public funding sources, and negotiations on the scope and specifics of the proposed project. Members of the city commission indicated they would support a public referendum on the project after city leaders hammer out more of the details with Federal Finance.
Thursday’s vote wasn’t a sign that the city supports the project as it is currently proposed. It instead signals that city leaders are willing to talk with the developer about a potential redevelopment. Most members of the city commission remained skeptical about the project’s proposed density.
“We’re a long way from any agreement. We don’t understand what the city-owned portion of the property would be, what we’d be able to use for, the recreation purposes, the investment from the city, and what impact fees they will ask to be reduced or omitted. So it’s a conversation, and I’m okay with the conversation,” said Mayor John Rees. “I always have been anti high-density. I would love for [the property] to stay like it is with the cows on it. That’s not going to happen.”
Most members of the public who spoke at the City Commission were against the project or expressed concerns about how it would impact traffic and noise. Other community members expressed concern that the project would gentrify nearby working-class neighborhoods in East Winter Garden and displace longtime residents.
Commissioner Iliana Jones indicated that she is open to negotiating a “happy medium” with the developer, but like other commissioners, she had some reservations regarding the project’s proposed density. Commissioner Colin Sharman also wanted to understand how local roads could accommodate the traffic generated by a 5,000-seat stadium.
“How do you get 5,000 people in and out of a single lane? Can we make them build their own access to 429? There’s concessions that would have to be made, but we are so far away from where the city would even go forward with anything because we’ve got to have a discussion,” Sharman said.
At least five developers, including Crescent Communities, Pulte, and DHI Communities, have submitted past proposals to redevelop the property with a mix of residential, office, retail, and hotel uses. However, the city wasn’t satisfied with any of these projects because the plans didn’t include sufficient recreation space for the public.
Before Thursday’s meeting, planning staff recommended that the City Commission enter into negotiations with Federal Finance, finding that the project would provide benefits to the public through the publicly available recreational facilities, park space, and walking and bike paths. The development would also provide jobs and contribute significantly to the Winter Garden’s tax base, but the city hasn’t yet conducted a study to determine the scale of the economic and fiscal impacts.
Federal Finance, which also has offices in New York, Toronto, and London, is an established developer in the United Kingdom and has a pair of active projects in Florida, including plans for 21 townhomes at 13651 Reams Rd. in Windermere. Federal Finance is also partnering with New York-based Silver Sky Capital Group on the 14-acre, $200 million Bath + Racquet Residences & Club development in Sarasota, which will include 277 luxury condos, 18 tennis courts, 12 pickleball courts, multiple pools, and retail space. The development team received $79 million in construction financing for the project earlier this month.
Federal Finance isn’t the only developer in the Orlando area to propose a mixed-use stadium-anchored development. In November, the Wilf family, who own Orlando City SC and Orlando Pride, submitted a proposal to Osceola County for a nearly $1 billion transformation of Osceola Heritage Park. The project would include repurposing the 5,300-seat Osceola County Stadium to host regular season games for Orlando City’s MLS Next Pro affiliate Orlando City B. The Wilfs’ plan to expand the stadium, but didn’t specify how many seats they want to add.
The site is currently home to Orlando City’s training facilities, which would expand from 4 to 18 practice fields. The expansion, which would also include 79,390 square feet of team office space, would serve as a joint headquarters with Orlando Pride. Additionally, there would be a training academy with dorms that would attract top youth talent from around the country and the world.
In addition to the sports facilities, the OHP project would deliver 962 apartments, two 160-key hotels, a 241,540-square-foot commercial core with retail and restaurants, and a 66,000-square-foot free-standing emergency room. The master plan includes for three future development parcels just west of Silver Spurs Arena, another three future commercial parcels, and three parking garages with a total of 4,800 spaces.
The proposed Winter Garden project is also about two miles away from the future site of The Dynasty, a $1 billion sports complex planned on 159 acres south of Fullers Cross Road and east of Ocoee Apopka Road in Ocoee. The massive complex is expected to consist of 17 multi-purpose fields, including 16 baseball fields and one field solely for football use, with 6 fields that can be converted for football and soccer purposes. The plans also call for outdoor batting cages and a 150,000-square-foot indoor sports & fitness building with basketball and volleyball courts and rehab facilities.
The Ocoee City Commission voted to approve the project in February. In addition to the sports facilities, the complex is expected to include a pair of hotels with 1,100 rooms, 350,000 square feet of retail, dining, and entertainment venues, public gathering space, and multiple parking garages. Montierre Development plans to start construction on the sports fields this year with an opening date of 2027, but there is no timeline yet for the rest of the project.
Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at (407)607-8160 or TyWilliams@GrowthSpotter.com. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.
