Winter Park mulls state office building proposals

After sitting vacant for more than half a decade, the Dan T. McCarty State Office Building at Denning Drive and Morse Boulevard is up for bids in Winter Park.

But just what will become of the unusual x-shaped, two-story building remains to be seen. With five different proposals already submitted, the city is now trying to decide what’s best. All five call to demolish the building.

“Several seem feasible,” Mayor Ken Bradley said. “I’m very intrigued by all of them and excited to be studying them.”

At a Sept. 19 meeting the Economic Development Advisory Board met to discuss the five proposed developments with the hope of moving forward with one recommendation to present at the Sept. 28 Commission meeting. On Sept. 20 the Commission attended a work session. A decision is expected on Sept. 28, the mayor said.

The property has been up for bids before. In January, the City Commission rejected a proposal by development firm CEI, which would have renovated the existing building on a 50-year lease with the city. But arguments on the dais over what constituted a fair price killed the deal before a compromise could be struck.

Eight months later, the city again is grappling with the idea of selling or leasing the property. The five proposals that the city is considering vary widely in their scope. That was intentional, Commissioner Steven Leary said.

“What I liked about [the city’s request for proposals] was there were no parameters set by the city,” Leary said. “It gave us the opportunity to step back and see what they could come up with.”

• The first, proposed by Atlantic Housing Partners, could be turned into a three-building, 137-unit active senior residential project, or a three-building, 106-unit multi-family project. The purchase price of $1 million is also substantially below the $5.3 million the Orange County Property Appraiser assessed the property.

• The second proposal, by the Casto development company, would be a mixed-use development that could include commercial, offices, a library, a hotel, a senior living facility or a parking structure. That would be completed as part of a joint venture with the city, combining multiple properties.

• The third proposal, by CNL and Progress Point LLC, would swap properties with the city. CNL would get the state office property, and the city would get property at 1150 N. Orange Ave. No money would change hands in the deal, though there is some dispute between appraisers about the difference in value between the properties. CNL would then demolish the building and build an 80,000-square-foot office building.

• A fourth proposal, by Eagle Summit Partners, would see the property transformed into what it calls a “senior living village,” with 115 units in an assisted-living facility, plus a 48-unit memory care center. The complex would sprawl more than 139,733 square feet. The offered price by Eagle Summit Partners is $1.65 million.

• The fifth proposal, by Pollack Partners, would also be the largest, turning the property into a 325-unit multi-family long-term rental project of three- to four-story buildings, purchased for $6.2 million.

Bradley said he’s optimistic that the project could move forward quickly.

“I don’t know what it’ll be at this point but I think we’ll have a decision,” Bradley said of the upcoming Sept. 28 meeting.