Applicant seeks commission approval for high-end apartments in downtown Winter Garden

Pending commission approval, 109 S. Boyd St. — located directly in downtown Winter Garden — could be developed into a mixed-use development with commercial space and high-end apartments.

A proposal submitted by Tremaine Boyd LLC outlines plans for a three-story building, with the first floor used for commercial uses and the second and third floors becoming 22 apartment units — six studio apartments, 12 one-bedroom apartments and four two-bedroom apartments. Rent would begin at about $1,000 for studio apartments.  

Tremaine Boyd LLC is composed of three partners John Rinehart with Civitas Consulting Inc., Frank Starkey with People Places LLC and Jim Costello with J&J Building — some of the key people behind the work in Oakland Park. 

The vote on the city’s sale of the property to Tremaine Boyd LLC was postponed to the July 28 meeting because of some commissioner’s concern with the breaks the city is giving to the developer. Tremaine Boyd LLC was the only offer on the property. 

City staff recommends selling the land to Tremaine Boyd LLC for $152,000, waiving $174,177 in transportation impact fees and $235,484 in other fees. 

“I think this is a gorgeous project,” said Commissioner Bobby Olszewski. “And there’s no doubt this will add a lot of charm to downtown Winter Garden. It’s a point of pride. My question is, the taxpayers and the citizens of Winter Garden are getting $152,000 for this and waiving an additional $410,000 in fees…That’s what my concern is, it seems like it’s not an equitable tradeoff.”

In the staff report, the staff wrote that they believe “high-end apartments are important for the long term viability of the downtown area.”

City Manager Mike Bollhoefer said that because city commission wanted to limit the height of buildings, the development will need more assistance to stay sustainable because there is now less room for additional units.

“If you want this type of residential with the commercial on the first floor, it’s not financially feasible without this type of assistance,” he said. “When you look at return on investment, you go back to the same argument you make, you look at the short term and the long term. The long-term effect, is by doing this with the apartments on the second and third floor and the commercial on the first floor, you now create a reason for people to walk down the street… when you look at our property values in the city of Winter Garden, believe it or not, our downtown rises property values for the entire city. When people choose to move to Winter Garden, one of the primary reasons is downtown.”

“When I think of all projects Winter Garden has given some money to to get on their feet, get going and everything, this is one of the top-quality projects I’ve seen,” said Commissioner Bob Buchanan. 

IN OTHER NEWS

Foundation Academy requested to rezone 67.66 acres of land to Planned Unit Development, in order to develop educational and sports facilities, including an on-campus football stadium, as a well as a commercial development and a communication tower. The school also hopes to have facilities to accommodate boarding students. Commissioners approved the first reading of the rezoning.

Commissioners approved allowing a Wendy’s at the Dillard Street and Colonial project, which will also include a Wawa and Culver’s. In January, commissioners voted against a Wendy’s at the site. The development will now include a Wendy’s at the site and will hold off on the shopping area behind the restaurants, as city staff still hopes it can eventually get a hotel at the site. 

Contact Jennifer Nesslar at [email protected].