Growth at 'The Grove' continues

Officials from the upscale Grove at Isleworth development have been busy working with new and prospective tenants for some of the project’s remaining spaces.

The Grove is part of a 290,000-square-foot, mixed-use project. It opened in 2011 at 4744 S. Apopka-Vineland Road, on the southwest corner of Apopka-Vineland and Conroy-Windermere roads. The site is adjacent to the Isleworth Golf & Country Club and two miles east of downtown Windermere.

And The Grove’s overall impact on Windermere has been a positive one, Windermere Town Council Member John Armstrong said Aug. 11.

“If it’s impacted us, it’s probably given our residents more options in restaurants,” he said.

The Grove, which is anchored by Publix, includes Dexter’s Restaurant, BurgerFi and Panera Bread. One of its largest properties is a LA Fitness Signature Club.

Windermere has only about 3,000 residents but sometimes sees between 17,000 and 27,000 vehicles cutting through Main Street — the heart of downtown — on a daily basis, according to town information.

“I don’t think we have a lot more traffic because of The Grove,” Armstrong said. “I think it’s more from commuters between Winter Garden and the Disney area.”

Looking ahead, The Grove has pending contracts with a chiropractor and wellness practice, an engineering firm and a photographer, said Jessi Blakley, spokeswoman for the Orlando office of the Tavistock Group. The group is the Bahamas-based parent company of the Tavistock Development Co., which developed The Grove.

Some of the development’s current office tenants are the Orlando Eye Institute and Dr. Jeannette Hudgens’ Dermatology and Skin Cancer Center.

According to data cited by the Tavistock Development Co., the average household income of the almost 2,000 households within a one-mile radius of the center is $145,304.