City leaders approve preliminary plans for Ocoee Village project

OCOEE  What is now an undeveloped, tree-filled lot near the intersection of Franklin Street/State Road 438 and State Road 429 is on track to become Ocoee Village in the near future.

During the Ocoee City Commission meeting Tuesday, June 6, commissioners unanimously approved the preliminary site plan for Ocoee Village, which will be a center for retail and office space. 

The property — located north of Franklin Street and east of S.R. 429 — lies within the S.R. 429 Overlay area and will be included in the Gateway District once the overlay is adopted. The site plan includes four mixed-use office/retail buildings on about 5.77 acres. The four buildings will total about 88,000 square feet, with 47,139 square feet of office space and 41,139 square feet of restaurant and retail space, according to city documents.

The first phase focuses on the first building, which will house the headquarters of BridgeWell Capital LLC, a direct private money lender for real-estate investments. The first building not only will include BridgeWell Capital’s offices but also a bank and space for restaurants and retail. 

All four buildings are two stories and slated to have balconies that will allow for covered outdoor dining on the first floor. Visitors to Ocoee Village will have a main entrance on Franklin Street, although an additional entrance is being provided on the east side of the property to allow for access with the future realignment of Silver Star Road in mind.

“We’re kind of taking into account the future plans of the city looking ahead, and we think we have a great project,” said city planner Mike Rumer. “This is the first project that came in based off of our downtown and 429 (plan). The next step is the final site plan.”

The preliminary site plan shows two smaller buildings fronting Franklin Street, with two larger buildings behind them, flanking the east and west sides of the property. Ocoee Village will also have a pond area situated in between the two larger buildings.

John Parrett, owner of BridgeWell Capital, said he started looking for a new location for his business about two-and-one-half years ago. In the process of purchasing the land and moving things forward over the years, he said, drastic changes were made to the budget and scope of construction to comply with the gateway to Ocoee concept.

“It’ll really set the stage for a level of development that right now is not very common in the area,” Parrett said of Ocoee Village. “For Phase One, we will probably occupy almost all of the first building with our company, related entities and the bank. This is really an owner-occupied situation, but we’re building it for something that might happen 50 years from now, so we tried to make it so that it would work with several applications besides our own.”

The construction is similar to that of The Grove Orlando and The Dellagio, Parrett said.

Parrett told city commissioners that he hopes to break ground on the first phase of Ocoee Village this fall, with a goal of being in operation as early as next summer.

“I think with what kind of design they’re talking about, the village would be the perfect setup for our entrance into town, and that’s what we’re looking to do,” Mayor Rusty Johnson said. “I think it’s going to be a beautiful addition to what’s there now. They’re working with us and we’re working with them to come up with a design that works for all of us and that will fit in to what we’re trying to do with our revitalization of downtown. We look forward to any of the new processes and economic development that happens in the city. We want to make it a great place.”

Contact Danielle Hendrix at [email protected].