Meanwhile, in neighboring Clermont, FL, the multimillion-dollar mixed use Galleria project, planned by locally based Highland Real Estate and Investments Inc., is stalled as the city worries about Downtown blight from the anticipated venture.
In the Groveland area, 25 miles west of Downtown Orlando, two new subdivisions already are on the drawing boards, city council members confirm. One community, just north of Cherry Lake, could have 2,000 residential units. Another project, at the north end of the state-protected Green Swamp, would be developed on a 160-acre tract.
Area industrial real estate brokers tell GlobeSt.com Groveland officials are confident their annexation plans will pay off in an enlarged property tax base and a permanent population of 20,000 by 2020, up from 3,000 today.
City officials confirm they are preparing a growth plan that will satisfy the Department of Community Affairs in Tallahassee, FL. The DCA signs off on all large commercial and residential development projects.
In Clermont, considered the hottest commercial and residential development hub in Lake County, city officials are awaiting word from developer Dale Ladd on his plans for Galleria. The project is planned for 45,600 sf of office; 24,600 sf of retail; 13,000 sf of restaurants; and 9,000 sf of residential. Ladd could not be reached by GlobeSt.com's publication deadline.
He paid South Lake Hospital $700,000 or $175,000 per acre ($4 per sf) for the four-acre Downtown site that formerly housed the old hospital. The Galleria was supposed to have been a city gateway entrance venture, designed to attract shoppers and tourists to a rejuvenated central business district.
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