The commercial real estate market in Kissimmee is on fire in downtown. The city is W. We received three suggestions from developers who are passionate about turning VineStreet’s Blighted Kmart and Big Lots sites into lively urban areas.
Three developers, Skyview Companies, Wendover Housing Partners and Capstrata/Hedrick Brothers, all proposed a 22-acre site with a commercial use and a large pond facing Vine at the northern end of the site. The similarities end there. The two groups that shared the master plan with GrowthSpotter provided a range of views on how much density is feasible in today’s market, but all are high on the occasion.
KMART’s redevelopment is the latest in a series of promising efforts by city leaders to extract private investments in downtown Kissimmee. Most notable is the hot competition to bring hotels to urban centres, and the city has now chosen two developers to build separate projects after years of market indifference.
In the latest contest, Skyview partnered with Baker Barrios and Kimley-Horn to develop a concept plan for the KMART/BIG lot site. This includes a multipurpose proposal to transform asphalt oceans into a walkingable waterfront community with over 900 residential areas, 84,000 square feet of commercial and structured parking. The interior streets are lined with majestic palm trees, wide sidewalks and bike lanes. Skyview COO Stephen Liberty told GrowthSpotter that the total project project budget is estimated at $325 million.
Skyview will create a new Waterfront Plaza. The zone is envisioned as a social center of development that connects residents, visitors and businesses in a vibrant civic environment. (Rendering by Baker Barrios)
The Skyview Master Plan calls for urban-style mixed-use apartments with structured parking and ground level retail overlooking a large pond and public square. (Skyview Companies/Baker Barrios)
The streets inside are lined with majestic palm trees. The Mid Rice complex features living in shops and restaurant homes. (Rendering by Baker Barrios)
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Skyview will create a new Waterfront Plaza. The zone is envisioned as a social center of development that connects residents, visitors and businesses in a vibrant civic environment. (Rendering by Baker Barrios)
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“This masterplan creates a livable, economically resilient, community-focused environment and places the site as a catalyst for transformations along the entire corridor,” reads the document.
The first phase will feature a mixed-use apartment with 280 units over 9,800 square feet of ground level retail. The majority of retail construction is planned in Phase 2, which requires 285 apartments, including 56,600 square feet of shopping, dining and offices, plus several live work units. Phase 3 will add 17,500 square feet of retail, along with 336 residential units, including the flagship waterfront restaurant. The final stage will add 31 townhomes at the northeastern and northwest corners overlooking the lake. According to Liberty, Skyview reserves 10% of the units of residents who earn less than 80% of the region’s median revenue, and those units will be scattered throughout the project.
Wendover Housing Partners proposed a $140.77 million combined community that leaned towards its history as one of the biggest developers of affordable housing. The team includes Crossmark Service as a commercial partner, Slocum Platts as an architect, and RVI Planning + Landscape Architecture/AVCON. Lowndes is a legal advisor.
Wendover Coo Ryan von Weller’s recent success in the transport-friendly apartment community in downtown Kissimmee has encouraged them to compete for the KMART site. “So there’s a real estate that’s very close to where Weston 400 people lease very quickly and worked very well for investors,” von Weller said. “And we are looking for more opportunities in the Kissimmee corridors, which presented itself.
Wendover proposes a mixed-income community with a total of 328 rental units, 66,000 square feet of commercial and retail use, and ground parking. (Courtesy of Wendover/RVI Planning + Landscape Architecture)
A 2.2 acre pond will be constructed in Phase 1 to provide stormwater retention. (Courtesy of Wendover/RVI Planning + Landscape Architecture)
The Clock Tower secures the Waterfront Plaza. (Courtesy of Wendover/RVI Planning + Landscape Architecture)
This project will be developed in three phases. This collective survey shows that the apartment building is a four-storey central garden apartment with the largest site having a 12,000 square feet of retail. (Courtesy of Wendover/RVI Planning + Landscape Architecture)
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Wendover proposes a mixed-income community with a total of 328 rental units, 66,000 square feet of commercial and retail use, and ground parking. (Courtesy of Wendover/RVI Planning + Landscape Architecture)
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The size of the KMART site is comparable to Universal Boulevard’s Wendover’s Catchlight Crossings Project, but the Kissimmee concept calls for a less intensive project with a total of 328 residential units and 66,000 square feet of commercial and retail space. The project will be built in three phases, which are expected to begin the fourth quarter of 2026.
The third bidder is Capstrata (FKA Capstack) and co-developer Hedrick Brothers Development. The team refused to share the proposal with GrowthSpotter, but Capstrata principal Veronica Malolos said it would meet the detailed requirements outlined in the BID document. They joined the Cormia Design Group as project architects.
“Our team has a bold vision that focuses primarily on the needs of the Kissimmee community.
The Hedrick brothers recently broke the ground in a new market-rate apartment community near Orlando’s Baldwin Park community, and will begin another construction this year at Kissimmee on Lake Toho.
President Burke Hedrick said their goal is to create symbolic things with lasting impact. “We believe in Kissimmee and are excited about what we’ve put together,” he said. “We put a lot of effort into it, but hopefully that’s what the city wanted and what we believe we can provide.”
Other notable efforts to revitalize downtown Kissimmee include a public-private partnership with Mosaic Development, completing the mosaic apartments at Lakefront Park and Toho Square Parking Garage.
In 2021, the city partnered with Skyview Companies to redevelop the Beaumont site. The Beaumont Site was acquired from Osceola County in a land exchange. Allen’s apartment will open in the spring, with Skyview preparing to break through the ground later this year in Phase 2, a 100,000-square-foot medical office building.
The city also selected Skyview as one of its downtown hotel partners and completed the build-out of the Toho Square site, featuring full-service boutique hotels and condominium developments. The company is also planning a mixed-use apartment tower with a grocery store and downtown craft brewery.
Development Services Director Craig Holland told members of the Osceola County Realtors Association that hoteliers’ interest is a new phenomenon. “For years, we tried to get a hotel, a hotel at the airport. We couldn’t plead, rent or steal to take a serious look at the hotel. And then, all of a sudden, there are three.”
The Kissimmee Place Development Group broke the ground last week at Hyatt Place, a new extended stay at the Airport Industrial Park, and Azure Hotels International is rapidly moving plans for its 200-room hotel and convention center on the Kissimme Chivic Center site. The Netherlands said Azure is planning to destroy the current civic centre in early 2026.
Any tips on developing Central Florida? Please contact me at lkinsler@growthspotter.com or (407) 420-6261. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.
