Two side-by-side large box retailers are set as anchor locations in Mineola’s planned town centre, within the hills of Mineola Marketplace.
The two stores, which combine more than 340,000 square feet of retail space (northeast of the intersection of North Hancock Road and Citrus Grove Road, southwest of Minnora’s Turnpike Interchange), will command more than 1,400 parking spaces on more than 38 acres, according to a growth rate report.
The developers have not identified stores, but the site plans and building footprint are roughly the same as they line up alongside Sam’s Club, which was announced last month at Davenport.
The 74-acre combined Minneola Marketplace site will be developed by Oviedo-based Sunterra Communities.
“At this point we’re very excited about it,” said Suntera principal Richard German. “We know that getting over the process and approval is a challenge, because it may not be visualized by many, but that’s the best thing for Mineola residents.”
Future additions to the growing hills of the Mineola region, spanning the Florida turnpike, are set to include four out-parcell lots, convenience stores, gas stations, luxury multi-family apartments and big box stores.
“I think if people get past the approval hurdle and realize what we’re trying to do, they’ll ultimately get excited and provide a great shopping experience and a very useful shopping experience,” German said.
Walmart in Bentonville, Arkansas announced plans to open 30 new Sam’s Club membership stores nationwide in 2023, introducing a new 160,000-square-foot prototype store.
The first development agreement in the town centre was approved in 2006, long before the project had a conceptual site plan. The latter was approved in 2023.
Early site plans showed the development would include 10 restaurants, a 90,000-square-foot retail lifestyle centre, a four-storey hotel, a 70,000-square-foot mixed-use office building, gas stations, convenience stores and trails that can be accessed to bikes.
According to Jerman, the plan was eventually discarded in connection with “market factors” and “market factors.”
“There was no market for what we had,” he said. “We have always had an outpurcell market, but there weren’t some of the interiors we developed, so we needed an anchor, we needed an anchor.
The luxury apartments, which are contracted with Bainbridge Companies, include 300 multi-family units spread across five four-storey buildings, over 11 acres within the complex development.
The apartments are the first for Bainbridge in Lake County, with other luxury apartments available near Lake Nona and along the local tourist corridors.
Bainbridge Development Chairman Bob Shollander said the Minneola project will be a due diligence period and will include amenities such as a resort-style swimming pool, a large clubhouse, a dog park and a pickleball court.
“It’s soon adjacent to the new Turnpike Interchange and we’re pretty pleased with the site,” he said. “It’s a growing area in Lake County, and we think it has a lot of potential.”
Sun Terra has sold nearly 4,000 family lots for the Del Webb Active Adult Community to home builders such as Meritage, Dream Finders, Starlight and Pulte on Minneola Hill.
The town centre is one of two planned commercial hubs within the 1,883-acre Master Planning Hills in the Mineola community, as well as the Hills city centre.
The Sun Terra community sold roughly 300 acres of undeveloped non-resident property to Skorman Development for $29 million in 2021, with Skorman using the land in 1,039 multi-family units in the city centre. Winter Garden Brewery Crook, along with Squaman, has broken a new 42,000-square-foot brewery, taproom and food hall that is scheduled to debut next year in Hills city centre.
The Master Plan community also includes the new AdventHealth Hospital, clinics, retail, dining and an approximately 170 acre industrial park. Skorman is working with strategic real estate partners on the development of the industrial park, selling 83 acres to an Atlanta-based industrial real estate agency last month.
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