Jan. 28, 2010
Empty spaces may soon fill at the Town Center, though some shops are closing.
Archive photo by Isaac Babcock — The Voice
By Matt Morrison
Guest Reporter
The Winter Springs Town Center may have fallen on hard economic times, but city officials say there is still hope for the future of the complex, and residential development may be just around the corner.
The receivership proceedings following the collapse of the Town Center's previous owner, the James Doran Company, are expected to be completed at the end of January, yet it remains unclear just how things will end up. Commissioner Rick Brown, who owns the Barnie's Coffee and Tijuana Flats there, said he expects State Farm to come out as the owner.
Moreover, Brown said talks are ongoing with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which owns Phase 2 of the Town Center behind the McDonald's restaurant, to renew residential development in that area. Around 1,300 town homes and condominiums were expected to be built before the economic downturn. Brown said the new developments being discussed will focus more on single family housing.
"The Town Center, I think right now, is poised for a lot of growth," he said.
It's a prospect late in coming for the 148,000-square-foot shopping plaza cut short in its infancy by a development nightmare coupled with poor communication between the Doran company and the city of Winter Springs. City officials discovered news of the company's fall only second-hand and after it had taken place.
City manager Kevin Smith, in meetings with Community Development Director Randy Stevenson, said the Town Center remains a viable location for the city, which hopes to transform this rural branch of Tuskawilla into a thriving economic hub.
According to Stevenson, three housing units have finished permitting and are now on hold.
"Obviously, like the Oviedo Marketplace and much of the country, the Town Center has been affected by the economy," Stevenson said.
"We see the Town Center as our downtown, a destination spot, but a city in itself where people can walk to their destination."
But other than hosting events and discussions with Land Development Innovation, the same economic development firm used by Oviedo, the city, like the Town Center merchants, is waiting for the bankruptcy proceedings to close.
The Town Center is controlled by three managers: the International Brotherhood, Crossman and Company and Transwestern, the group that oversees both of Brown's businesses in Phase One. City officials say that some rent adjustments may be in the works with the goal of attracting more businesses to the development. Brown said he hoped a flat or similar price would eliminate the need to scout locations but provide an equal incentive across the board.
Stevenson said four to five new tenants are on the way, incited by the prospect of lower rents. Yet while signs of life still exist, Stevenson warned that it will still take time for all the improvements to take place. He noted the residential aspects specifically and the difficulty in arranging financing for them.
"We have a ways to go," he said. "We know that."
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