‘Once in a lifetime’: Eustis moves forward with major downtown project
Eustis city leaders and consultants will begin gathering public input as they inch closer to redeveloping a former hospital site, which city leaders have referred to as a “once in a lifetime” opportunity to cement the city’s position as a leader in Central Florida.
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The three-block parcel located between State Road 19, Clifford Avenue and Magnolia Avenue was the former site of Florida Hospital Waterman, which moved 18 years ago.
The hospital’s closing represented another nail in the once-thriving downtown’s coffin, which had been wrecked by America’s love affair with cars in the mid-20th century.
The vacant land now sits as a grass- and asphalt scar on the land, but also presents the city with huge potential. Rarely does so much continuous land become available in an urban environment – and one block away from a lake with sunset views.
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Because of the project’s scale, city leaders decided to create a larger downtown master plan that was centered around the site, rather than limiting their efforts to just those parcels.
“This is our chance to really make a mark,” Mayor Michael Holland said. “It will change our city and Lake County as it’s known today.”
Holland and major downtown property owners described their vision as a walkable mix of uses to promote the “live, work, play” environment that many modern urban planners are championing.
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That will mean additional space for stores and restaurants, apartments for workers and shoppers to live in, a community center for activities, and a hotel residents say is badly needed.
“We actually kind of just want to go back in time a little bit where we were in the past and have some thriving businesses,” Pam Rivas, whose company owns 16 downtown properties, described. “Livable, affordable, and marketable.”
On Monday, Holland and the Eustis city manager announced they would be moving forward with a series of public input meetings that they expected to kick off on August 15 or 16.
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It’s not the first time the city has tried to develop this site. A previous plan famously fell apart after it was too reliant on apartment units for leaders’ tastes.
Business owners said this time around feels different, with a different group of commissioners proceeding more carefully and deliberately than before.
Leaders said it was important to understand exactly what the community wanted for the site, since it would be the last time the entire property would be available at once.
However, the consultants would ensure the development was grounded in the realities of the market and what was reasonable for the region (no alpine ski slopes, one official jokingly warned).
Holland said parking would be addressed through two or three parking structures scattered around downtown, and envisioned working with Lake County to connect the downtown to bicycle and walking paths leading elsewhere.
The city is using Winter Garden’s redevelopment as a model, though they hope their end result will outshine it.
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The site’s construction is estimated to represent a $125 million investment in the city, which is expected to grow from 25,000 people to more than 40,000 in the next decade.
Already, the downtown’s core was showing signs of life. One landlord said there were zero downtown vacancies, not including pending contracts, a sharp fall from 15 just a few years ago.
The city is also nearing completion of the UCF Business Incubator that will be located two blocks north of the vacant land.
Holland said one of his goals was to meet the demands of the growing population while maintaining the city’s small-town feel by not letting the growth get out of control.
He said the city has already signed some contracts and, if everything goes as planned, shovels will be in the ground within two years.
“When our kids graduate here they go to college, but we want to have something for them to come home to,” he said. “If we do it right, that’s what we’re going to create for them.”
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