The City of Winter Garden is currently reviewing a pair of proposed retail centers that would be less than a mile from each other on W. Colonial Drive.
One of the projects would be a 24,000-square-foot retail development on 2.81 acres at 15080 W. Colonial Dr. Melissa Rodriguez of Rock Mel Investments recently brokered the sale of the 2.81-acre property. Seidel Holdings, of which Rodriguez is a partner, sold the land to an undisclosed Brazilian development group for $3.2 million, or roughly $1.138 million per acre. Rodriguez told GrowthSpotter that she hasn’t seen land zoned commercial on S.R. 50 sell for such a high price per square acre.
“This isn’t fully entitled, shovel-ready, or pad-ready. It still has to go through the entire PD site plan with the City of Winter Garden,” she said. “I have not seen anything comp out at over a million dollars on Highway 50 if it’s not pad ready.”
Rodriguez’s team filed a preliminary site plan with the city and has already held two pre-application meetings with planning staff. The plans call for two buildings with space for up to nine retail and restaurant tenants. Dave Schmitt Engineering and PNM Architecture are also working on the project.
“My business partner had several projects, and we said, you know what? We’re going to test the market to see if we can develop it, or if we can sell it, and what would make sense. As soon as we put it on the market, we had a ton of interest, so we knew we were priced right,” Rodriguez said.
“I think the property speaks for itself, honestly,” she added. “Everyone’s wanting to be close to downtown Winter Garden and have access to I-4 and 408 and everything else.”
Another nearby retail center is in the works at 14451 W Colonial Drive. Property owner Shazad Nesaralli is requesting approval for a 46,432-square-foot project on the site. Solomons Auto Body operates on the property, but the land is otherwise vacant. A site plan from Lam Civil Engineering indicates that the redevelopment would consist of tearing down the existing auto body facilities on the western portion of the property and relocating the business to a new 15,232-square-foot building on the property’s eastern edge.
Nesaralli would “be required to construct a new building with roll-up doors in the rear, shielded from SR-50, and bring the building closer to SR-50 away from the residential property to the north,” according to a staff report.
There would also be three retail buildings, each of which would have 10,400 square feet of space and five separate 2,080-square-foot retail locations. Combined, there could be up to 15 retail tenants in addition to the new Solomons Auto Body building.
The first phase would consist of the new Solomons Auto Body and a pair of retail buildings, while the final retail building on the eastern portion of the property would be built in a second phase. This phasing plan would potentially allow Solomons to remain open in its current facility until its new building opens.
The project was set to go before the Winter Garden Planning and Zoning Board on April 7, but the board voted to table the item to an unspecified date. However, staff recommended approval of the development before the meeting, finding that it is consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan and code of ordinances.
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