A mixed-use development near The Villages in Fruitland Park is nearing a key milestone, seeking permitting approval with plans to eventually break ground later this year.
Orlando-based Intram Investments is developing a 68.55-acre mixed-use district at the intersection of Timbertop Lane and Miller Blvd., the road separating the development from The Villages.
Tentatively named Miller Park, the development will feature a combination of 288 apartment units and 165 townhome units, along with commercial retail and institutional office uses for medical.
Randy Hodge, executive vice president of Intram Investments, said the development will operate as “three independent projects” including the apartments, townhomes and retail or institutional office uses for medical facilities. The apartments and townhomes will have their own amenities, according to Hodge.
“The city’s approval requires a clubhouse and a pool. The townhome project will operate independently of the multifamily and it requires a pool as well,” he said. “The balance would be the retail and institutional, institutional really being medical-related offices and facilities. The retail is generally at the southwest corner of the acreage and then the institutional is likely to the east of that retail.”
Hodge said Intram has not bid the project yet and will have clarity on potential retailers, developers and associated costs for the project as the company works through the permitting process.
“What we’re planning to do and what is on the radar with the City of Fruitland Park is to approve a permit to mass grade the site, create the master stormwater pond, install some of the internal roadways and distribute the utilities between those three general parcels,” he said. “But we haven’t gone out to bid at this point, so it’s hard to say what those numbers will be.”
Initial plans for the project, from Kimley-Horn, call for up to 168,000 square feet of commercial uses on 18.9 acres of the property and multiple phases of construction.
Phase 1A will likely include construction of the apartment units and master stormwater pond, which will serve the entire development. Phase 1B may include a grocery-anchored shopping center, plus three retail outparcels, which will likely feature restaurants or another mix of retail and restaurant uses.
Depending on market demand, Hodge said, the 165-unit townhome parcel may proceed simultaneously with other phases.
The medical office park would rise on 6.9 acres within the PUD and be permitted up to a maximum of just under 210,000 square feet.
The plan allows flexibility for nonresidential uses, but developers agreed to cap commercial space at 300,000 square feet and commercial office at 50,000 square feet, which is separate from the institutional office entitlement.
Intram, under the business name 27 Miller Investors LLC, purchased the land for the project from previous owners Stephanie Bailey Bouis and Patricia Bouis for $6.85 million in 2022.
After initial hesitation from residents of The Villages due to concerns over traffic and amenities, Intram received project approval from the Fruitland Park City Council in 2023.
“We had a little bit of contention when we initially went through the City of Fruitland Park’s process to modify the PUD there, but it was predominantly from people in The Villages that were concerned that the residents of these apartment projects or townhomes would use the amenities in their village,” Hodge said. “So that’s one of the reasons why the approval required us to provide our own amenities, which we were planning on. It was easy to agree to that because it was something that would have happened anyway.”
Intram has extensive experience with large mixed-use projects in Central Florida, having completed Posner Village, Sunrise City and Lucky’s Corner in Orlando’s SoDo area.
In a prime location — adjacent to The Villages but not within it — Hodge said he expects the project to house residents who work in The Villages and are looking for an area to live separate from the community.
“That part of Central Florida is growing rapidly,” he said. “I think, instead of retirees living in the residential in our project, it’s more likely to be people that work at one of the businesses that is either in The Villages or serves The Villages itself.”
Hodge said that once permitting gets approved with the St. Johns River Water Management District, and Intram is able to meet Fruitland Park city requirements, he expects to break ground on the project by the end of the year.
“We’ll get those permits in hand and then work on the mass infrastructure installation,” he said. “I think we’ll probably be in the ground by the fourth quarter of this year, that’s a reasonable estimate.”
Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at jwilkins@orlandosentinel.com or 407-754-4980. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.
