Every day, 35,000 people travel along the West Colonial Drive to downtown Orlando. If they want to escape the ugly surrounding them, they have to look away from them.
Businesses have been running away from the West Colonial era for 20 years, but Covid was a nail in the co. Even national retailers such as 7-Eleven, Family Dollar and Burger King have been closed and are now focusing devastation in corridors with 32 vacant lots and buildings.
But where others seem to be eyesore, Amit Kumar saw the opportunity. According to a report by GrowthSpotter, his efforts last year demonstrated a loose public-private partnership that decided to significantly change the corridor in a way that has been reborn over the past decade.
In 2024, the restaurant will purchase a graffiti-covered Burger King with shutters for $1.16 million, and invest another $1.5 million. Kumar has won Michelin Bib Gourmand for the third consecutive year in a row at three Orlando chef and owner restaurants, including Bombay Street Kitchen. He told Growthspotter he plans to convert Burger King properties into commissioners, test the kitchen to train cooks and create new menu items for other restaurants. He also runs a limited seating restaurant, where he offers a five-course tasting menu of his high Indian work.
“So why did I choose that space? The first thing is that the entire area is ignored and not growing much,” he said. However, Kumar believes he is ready to invest and wanted to buy the property near downtown before he was priced from the market.
Kumar believes that when he invests in his property, other business owners will follow his example.
The city’s planning department agrees that time will soon be available to amend the West Colonial era. Recently, I began studying the 1.4-mile corridor between I-4 and Tampa Avenue, deciding how to create a more attractive gateway to downtown. Assistant Division Manager Timothy McClendon hopes city officials will develop a special plan with Western Colonial overlays.
“This has been postponed for a long time, but once again, the district has split, so we’re trapped in empty land,” McClendon said. “I think that’s the only reason it never happened because there were so many other special plans.”
The city worked with Kimlee Horn to analyse existing ownership, land use and redevelopment opportunities. The first stakeholder meeting, particularly for business owners, is scheduled for February 18th and 19th.
“The intention is not just to hold multiple community meetings, not just people in business, but the first meeting in the community is to let everyone know what’s been done and get information from everyone there. To gather. McClendon said, “And in reality, second, there will be some potential policies or recommendations back on how the community can approach what they want to see.”
Kumar said he would submit plans next month. Other new projects coming in the hallway include the $10 million downtown HCA Orlando, just west of the I-4 interchange. Open 24 hours a day. And last month, the owner of the Family Dollar Store applied for a building permit to renovate the store and reopen it as a dollar tree.
Changes take a long time.
The mixed use development of Westmoreland Square, approved in 2023, would have brought the first major new construction to the area around the Orange Blossom Trail since Wawa opened a decade ago. Located half of the former McNamara Pontiac, which closed in 2006, it is designed for 115 apartments with ground level retail use and structured parking. However, the project has stagnated.
The site is currently used as a staging area for nearby public works projects, and car dealers live with nail salon wholesalers.
Rabbit & Romano
The proposed plan for Westmoreland Square called for 115 residential units with restaurant and retail space on the ground floor. (Rendering by Rabits & Romano)
McClendon said the project and HCA ER are part of the drivers behind the research.
“With the success of Creative Village and the completion of the I-4, we know that the area is kind of ready,” he said. “We’re ready for redevelopment, so we need to make sure everything that happens is compatible with all our neighbours, such as Spring Lake, Rock Lake, Lake Dot, College Park, and so on. So we’re looking for a community. When we do outreach, we try to grab all of those associations.”
Ron Mummert and Richard Laferriere ran Ron’s miniature shop for nearly 30 years before closing in October last year. Currently, they are about to sell the building at 751 W. Colonial Dr., so planning efforts were welcome news.
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“When we first moved there, it was really bad with temporary and illegal activities going on, you know, drug dealers and things,” Lafrière said. Ta.
When one-stop homes bought an ambassador hotel and converted it into affordable homes, it really helped to turn the area in a new direction. Laferriere said the closure of 7-Eleven and Family Dollar also had a positive effect.
“It looks like it’s getting better,” he said. “Of course, the reason is that there is no place for temporary people to get food or use toilet facilities in the area.”
One-Stop Housing CEO Mark Bengroff and Creative Villagemaster Developer Craig Ustler both believe that the hallways need an influx of labor housing and more business owners like Kumar. Masu. “There are other parts of the colonial drive that I’m sure the city is probably trying to replicate,” Ustler said. “If you look at Mills 50, everyone will say that they understand how that community reinvents its colonial era.”
Grant Gribble, who owns an office building at 1600 W. Colonial Dr., where he runs his interior design business, said it was proof that West Colonial could attract new investments. When Gribble and his late partner Jack Hanson purchased the building in 2003, they completed a complete renovation.
“It’s funny. It was painted with Smurf blue, so we called it a Smurf building,” Gribble said. The city council awarded them the glorification project award, and years later, the Rawls Group purchased and renovated the 1953 office building on the next block, then built a $1.2 million headquarters next door.
“To be honest, I’m for all sorts of redevelopment in the area. Yes, it’s really rough from the Westmoreland area towards I-4. It’s very empty now,” he said. . “They have to do something, so I’m very supportive, as a business owner and as a homeowner in this field, doing something to reinvent what’s going on.”
McClendon said he wanted to see some of the attributes of the segment between Tampa Avenue and Springdale Road, particularly the Tree Canopy. But that will be impossible in sections that only have five feet of sidewalk and overhead powerlines.
Ustler said other measures the city could take are to reduce parking requirements for corridor businesses, establish community redevelopment areas and appoint a Main Street Coordinator.
“If you do these research areas, you can’t all become Audubon Park, meaning these Main Street Districts, all of them can’t be great,” he said. “Some of them have to be pretty good. Colonial, in my head, I always thought I was way better than that.”
Any tips on developing Central Florida? Please contact me at lkinsler@growthspotter.com or (407) 420-6261. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.
