Development of the city’s downtown catalyst site will include some 220 residential units and roughly 40,000 square feet of commercial space.
Details about the much anticipated project are beginning to come together, and the development team, Sanford Waterfront Partners, LLC, will make a 90-minute presentation during the Monday, June 13 Sanford City Commission meeting.
Venny Torre, one of the principles of the Sanford Waterfront Partners, said the presentation is a rough draft of the formalized plan his company will make to the city in September, adding that not all the details have been finalized.
For instance, the group is projecting the development will include 220 residential units in some combination of traditional apartments and townhomes. That number could increase slightly as the plan continues moving forward.
Currently Torre said the project would have 40,000 square feet of commercial space for restaurants, stores and offices. That number, too, could increase.
There will be a number of conceptual renderings shown during the presentation, however, Torre cautioned that the renderings will not be exactly the same as the final product.
“These are not architectural plans,” said Torre. “These are renderings we created as part of the master plan. They will show the scale of the buildings, the grouping of buildings and how we want traffic and activity to flow in, out and around them.
“These renderings will not be completely accurate as to all of the finishes, or whether there’s one door or two doors or three doors in a specific commercial space. Those will come later as we get into the actual architectural drawings.”
In general, Torre said the 5.5-acre project would feature smaller 2- and trhee story buildings grouped together rather than one massive building.
“It will have a similar look to what we already have in downtown,” Torre said.
The first-floor spaces along Seminole Boulevard facing the water would feature active uses – restaurants, stores, public spaces. There would also be a space reserved for a possible market. But before you Whole Foods/Trade Joe fans start hyperventalating, Torre said a market space would be about 4,000 square feet, and there are no tenants identified.
The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the city commission chambers. The meeting will also be broadcast live on The Bokey’s Facebook page, which you can find here.
The project is referred to by city officials as the “catalyst site,” because city officials expect it to jump-start new construction downtown and better connect 1st Street to the waterfront.
The site is 5.5 acres of city-owned land. It includes the 2 full city blocks, stretching from 1st Street to Seminole Boulevard between Palmetto and Sanford avenues. It also includes the parking lot on the east side of the Seminole County Civil Courthouse. The site is almost 3 city blocks.
Sanford, Fla. 