- December 4, 2025
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The city of Winter Garden is making progress on revitalization projects for the Historic East Winter Garden Neighborhood.
Marc Hutchinson, the city’s economic development director, shared an update on the Dyson’s Plaza Commercial Revitalization project as well as the Legacy Home Rehabilitation Pilot Program with the Winter Garden City Commission.
Hutchinson said the Community Redevelopment Agency is funding the projects with the support of Orange County.
The city broke ground on Dyson’s Plaza Commercial Revitalization Project in August 2024.
The project includes the redevelopment of the 2,300-square-foot property that is a fourth-generation, family-owned business since 1939.
There is redevelopment work set aside to improve the interior and exterior of the building shell as well as site improvements for the parking lot, paving, outdoor dining and seating and landscape.
Hutchinson said it previously was a three-unit building, but now it will be converted to a two-unit building, allowing for an expansion for a potential restaurant as well as a retailer for the second unit.
“It’s pretty impressive work thanks to (Assistant City Manager) Mr. Steve Pash, who has been trying to land this plane,” Hutchinson said.
As work on the project continues, Hutchinson said the outside dining area will be facing north and there are trees facing south from the back of the building to the right. There also is improved electrical work.
There also is ADA accessible parking facing north as well as a Molok garbage receptacle facing north. Hutchinson said the garbage receptacle is partially underground, which “allows for our smallest signature in garbage storage, and also it does a really fantastic job of containing the smell.”
Hutchinson said the project is about 95% complete, with a few remaining work items left regarding the electrical connections, installation of an awning, some landscaping and striping of the parking surface.
“We’re happy we’re almost there, rounding the corner for Dyson’s,” he said.
The Community Redevelopment Agency is partnering with Rebuild Together Greater Florida, the administrator and contractor of the program, as well as One Winter Garden for the project.
Hutchinson said the mission of the overall legacy program is to bring improvement to homeowners’ home residences to focus on improving the health and safety of the home, add better quality of life as well as extend and add value to the home.
“This is a monumental effort to really try and bring some value and raise a standard for the quality of life and living for our residents in the Historic East Winter Garden Neighborhood,” Hutchinson said.
The city received 34 applications for the pilot program, 10 of which were declined. Four homes were approved for the pilot while nine are under review and 11 are pre-approved for the next round of the program.
Once the full program is running, it will target between 15 and 20 homes each year with funding up to $50,000 per home for repairs.
“We thought it was prudent to kind of walk the walk of doing a pilot to really understand what we’re getting involved with and understand the process and make improvements, especially walking alongside for the first time without a partner,” Hutchinson said. “We just wanted to make sure there was absolute diligence in the process, so we took the route of doing a four-home pilot to focus on four homes under the same criteria.”
The first home under renovation is for Janet Gilbert. The project is 80% complete with a $34,435 budget. The single-family, 1,056-square-foot home was built in 1962.
“We’re really impressed with the lightning clip in which this process has taken place and how much has occurred,” Hutchinson said.
One of the slated improvements includes masonry work to replace tile flooring, which had gaps in pockets affecting about 50% of the area within the home.
There also are plumbing improvements such as a shower-to-tub conversion in the master bath.
Other improvements include carpentry work, HVAC and electrical improvements as well as extermination and exterior painting.
The second house belongs to Lonnie Jefferson and is 70% complete with a budget of $43,026. The single-family, 1,152-square-foot house was built in 1965.
Slated improvements include a master bathroom renovation, widening of the master bath doorway, carpentry replacement of kitchen cabinets, bolstering some of the doors to ensure home security, electrical work, mold remediation and roof replacement.
The third pilot home is for John Rainey. The project is 80% complete with a budget of $44,765. The single-family, 1,494-square-foot home was built in 1951.
“Now that is a beautiful home,” Hutchinson said. “A beautiful home only on the exterior. When you get inside and you take a look, there are hidden problems within the foundation and behind the walls.”
He said there was wood rot and piping work on the exterior that was compromised with at least 80% blockage.
The project includes a complete overhaul around the home’s foundation, plumbing work, structural framing repairs, flooring repairs in the bathroom and remediation in the kitchen and below the bathroom.
The fourth and final home in the pilot program is Valerie Brown’s. Work on the 848-square-foot home has not yet started and has a budget of $54,000. Hutchinson said work hasn’t started yet as it’s still going through the permitting process, and there’s some refinement needing to be done on the cost to bring the renovations within the $50,000 threshold.
Work needed on the house includes masonry work, especially around the framing outside, as well as siding and roof replacement, foundation upgrades, electrical work, plumbing work, renovations to the bathroom and kitchen and ADA upgrades to the front entrance.
Hutchinson said once the four pilot program homes are complete, the city will make quick assessments about lessons learned, refinements to the process and more before opening the program to more homes.
