Developers shift plans for downtown Maitland redevelopment

Plans for Maitland’s downtown redevelopment are shifting into focus, with one developer partially pulling out of the process and two others campaigning for public support.

The Community Redevelopment Agency Board will meet June 17 to hear revised plans from proposed downtown developers and decide which ones to move forward with toward development agreements.

Applicant David Lamm said his company plans to withdraw its mixed-use proposal for the old city hall site, and present revised plans to build only on the U.S. Highway 17-92-fronted Winn-Dixie and New Traditions Bank properties with apartments and retail.

Representatives from Urban Redevelopment Concepts, which proposes building a retail- and office-fronted parking garage on the old city hall site, and Blackfin, which has plans for a specialty grocer on the city-owned northern Horatio Avenue parking lot, will host a “Meet the Developers” public forum at the Maitland Civic Center on Thursday, June 12, at 7:30 p.m.

Maitland CRA Director Verl Emrick said if all goes as planned, two or all three of the proposals are likely to pass into the developers agreement phase, with final agreements coming back to the CRA Board and City Council for review in July or August.

“We’re keeping our fingers crossed that something will be going vertical by the first quarter of next year,” Emrick said.