After vehement opposition from Minneola residents and community members, Sun Terra Communities has abandoned its application for a Walmart within its proposed Minneola Marketplace development.
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Located northeast of the North Hancock Road and Citrus Grove Road intersection, southwest of Minneola’s Turnpike interchange, Minneola Marketplace is one of two commercial town centers planned for the Hills of Minneola master-planned community.
For months, Walmart and its membership-only warehouse store, Sam’s Club, had prepared to operate new locations within Minneola Marketplace despite concerns from residents worried about safety and traffic in the area and city codes that prevent development of big-box stores.
A change.org petition that started in January titled ‘Stop the Walmart and Sam’s Club development in Minneola’ currently has 265 verified signatures and has been shared 68 times on various social media and messaging outlets. Dozens of residents also attended a community meeting in January to engage with Walmart representatives and city officials to voice their displeasure with the Minneola Marketplace plans.
The opposition started with the initial plans for the mixed-use development, which had it set to include several out-parcel lots, a gas station, multifamily apartments, and two big-box stores.
Those plans changed significantly as project consideration moved forward, with the buildings repositioned and the addition of more open green space and seating areas, water features, palm trees, and a community gathering location designed to host events like live music and food truck pop-ups. Yet it was not enough to swing public opinion.
“We know Walmart has a purpose and a place; we just don’t feel it’s close to where we live,” Minneola resident Paul Steen said in January. Steen and his family moved close to the Minneola Marketplace site within the last year and said they expected much more of a town center-style development.
Facing pressure from both residents and the city, Sun Terra has now decided to pull its application for the Walmart and move forward from there.
“We knew that the voters, as well as the commission, were not in favor of the two-store concept,” Sun Terra Principal Richard Jerman told GrowthSpotter. “We did not feel we could get the approval.”
According to Jerman, Sun Terra is continuing to work on “new possibilities and new plans” within Minneola Marketplace and confirmed it will remain a mixed-use site.
“If there’s not two big stores, there is a better opportunity to add some more uses and do some different things,” he said.
While plans for the Walmart were rescinded and the retail giant is no longer under contract for its proposed site within Minneola Marketplace, there is no indication that plans for the Sam’s Club store have been scrapped.
“We are continuing to evaluate the best way to serve the Minneola community,” Walmart said in a statement to GrowthSpotter.
The area surrounding the proposed Minneola Marketplace site near Florida’s Turnpike is set to experience significant development activity, with numerous projects planned nearby.
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Last week, the Minneola City Council unanimously approved ordinances supporting development of the Citrus Ridge Commercial PUD, mere feet away from the Minneola Marketplace property.
Bisected by Citrus Grove Road — located east of Grassy Lake Road and west of North Hancock Road — the 17.74-acre Citrus Ridge property is planned for a mix of small commercial uses.
The conceptual site plan for the development shows six commercial buildings, one of which is planned for a gas station, fronting Citrus Grove Road, with a larger mini-storage or warehouse building on the northern edge of the site. The building, according to the plan, is set along a road that will be built to lead into the adjacent Camp Lake Commerce Center, currently under construction.
Developers of the Camp Lake Commerce Center, a massive industrial park planned along Florida’s Turnpike just north of the Citrus Ridge Commercial PUD, broke ground on Phase 1 of the project back in March.
Maryland-based FRP Development Corp. and Atlanta-based Strategic Real Estate Partners have joined to develop the industrial park on 163 acres east of Florida’s Turnpike and north of Citrus Grove Road.
The three-phase development project, upon completion, will total 1.4 million square feet and offer capacity for 996 parking spaces and 193 trailers spaces, with 32-foot clear heights in the warehouses.
Just over a mile up Florida’s Turnpike from Minneola Marketplace and abutting the Camp Lake Commerce Center to the west, Tampa-based developer Richland Communities received approval from Minneola City Council earlier this year to move forward with its Shepherd’s Landing mixed-use community.
Located on 261 acres south of Florida’s Turnpike in Minneola, approximately 1.25 miles east of US 27, Shepherd’s Landing will be bisected by Scrub Jay Lane heading north to south and Sullivan Avenue heading east to west.
According to plans for the development, Shepherd’s Landing is expected to contain 47,044 square feet of commercial space and over 25 acres of open green space. A dedicated 10-acre utility tract would also be set aside for a future city-owned wastewater treatment facility.
Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at [email protected] or 407-754-4980. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.
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