SANFORD, Fla. – After city leaders in Sanford scrapped a major development in the downtown area, commissioners are once again discussing what could happen to the properties where Heritage Park was once planned.
News 6 has been following the project — and the perceived lack of progress — since 2017, when the city partnered with a developer to bring 28,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, 9,000 square feet of office space, and 234,000 square feet of residential space, and additional parking to the properties close to Lake Monroe.
Then in 2024, the Commission ended up paying the developer $3.75 million to end their agreement, and the project was nixed.
[WATCH: Will Sanford’s Heritage Park ever be finished? (from 2023)]
“It was always spoken of as this catalyst site to bring people downtown to spend money, have economic development,” explained Mayor Art Woodruff. “What really turned it for me was when we were discussing with them what a ‘live work’ unit looked like. And everyone thought it was one where a single person controlled the living space and the working space, and the developer said, ‘Oh no, those could be two apartments for two different people, but somebody could work from one of them.’ And that’s when we realized that we don’t have the same vision anymore.”
At a recent work session, the mayor and commissioners discussed the future of the property again, which includes three lots between the courthouse, civic center, and library.
Current plans for a “mixed-use” development include a building with up to 30,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space on the ground floor, a multi-story apartment complex above, and a parking structure. There are also plans for a park closer to the waterfront.
The city could send out a request to developers to see how much it would cost to construct and if there are any willing partners to accomplish it, but Commissioner Patrick Austin said it may be a “pipe dream.”
“In order for somebody to want to build something here, they’re going to want a residential component because that’s where the ROI (return on investment) is,” said Austin. “The ROI is not an empty retail space, an empty restaurant space. The ROI is beds and heads.”
Commissioner Austin suggested it may be in the city’s best interest to just sell the properties.
“Sometimes I’m afraid our Sanford rosy glasses are maybe a little too narrow-minded as to what the possibilities are,” said Austin. “I just feel like we need to not feel like we can ask for the world and get it, because we tried that once on the corner lot.”
Planning Director Eileen Hinson told commissioners if they sell the property outright, they will lose control over what happens to it.
“If you sell the property, you don’t have any cards. They can do whatever they want with it. It could be 99% residential. You may get a garage, you may not,” Hinson said.
Woodruff tells News 6 he still believes that someone could partner with the city and make their vision for the project work.
“It may not be this year,” said Woodruff. “I was talking to someone, sort of an unrelated conversation a week or two ago, some developers, and they’re like, you know, in ten years we would want to be in Sanford because that’s going to be the place that you’re going to need to fill in. Right now, they’re looking at outskirts.”
Woodruff said there are other options moving forward, including putting more restrictive zoning in place before the property hits the market.
“Years ago, when not much was happening in Sanford, the zoning was set up to really encourage development of any type,” explained Woodruff. “And so, in that zoning district, it’s very open what you can do. You know, it could just be all apartments right there or just an office, or, you know, whatever they wanted to do. And so, we have a vision of what we want, especially on that one lot right there on First Street.”
Woodruff said the city does not have to be in a rush to get something done and has time to discuss it further. Staff were given direction at the work session to look into what the value of the properties could be if they went up for sale, and to plan for a discussion on the matter once again at an upcoming meeting.
“I would rather do it right than just say I got it done,” said Woodruff. “There’s criticism about the $4 million, I get that. I didn’t like that. You know, it took us $4 million to get out of it. That saved another $8 million that we would have put into a project that we no longer wanted to do. And so, you know, the things work out sometimes the way they do.”
[READ Sanford’s plans for Heritage Park]