Media Coverage

Orlando Sentinel
Feb 12, 2007
Cities Seek A New CenterCentral Florida ommunities are pushing the growth of compact, pedestrian-friendly downtowns.
By Sandra Pedkini
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Central Florida has downtown fever.

Suburban cities where downtowns never naturally evolved are working with developers to mold what they hope will become vibrant town centers. Cities that already have them are seeking ways to revitalize or add to them, and at least one city is trying to create an entirely new downtown.

Even within larger cities, such as Orlando, developers are creating commercial centers as a focal point within their communities.

The idea touted behind these places: live, work and play all in one spot. It's the exact opposite of the type of planning or lack of it that resulted in suburban sprawl.

And governments are taking an active role in these new town centers, selecting developers and providing incentives, such as building roads and park improvements. Many are modeling them after private efforts, such as the downtown in Celebration, a neotraditional community developed by Walt Disney Co., and Winter Park Village, an open-air complex of stores, restaurants, a multiplex movie theater and a small apartment complex.

Cities may want downtowns to achieve a sense of identity, but market forces are at work, too.

"It's not important for them to do it as a civic gesture, although it probably has some value as that," said John Norqujpt, president and chief executive of Congress for the New Urbanism, nonprofit group that encourages the building of such compact, pedestrian-friendly communities. "It's important because that's where retail's going. Shoppers want ... an enjoyable social experience. They want to be in real places."

Baldwin Park Development Co. managing director David Pace describes the village center as "really, the central shopping district." The first phase of Winter Springs Town Center is exactly that -- a shopping center that, like the one in Baldwin Park, is anchored by a Publix grocery store.

When Oviedo Mayor Tom Walters discusses plans for new downtown, he talks not so much about creating a sense of place but something that can bring economic development to the city's core." Oviedo's project is unusual in that the city already has a downtown, albeit one that is small with a handful of stores. The new one in Baldwin Park, to be anchored by an amphitheater and park, is planned for about a mile down the road.

The key, experts say, is to strike a balance -- not offer more retail than the market can handle and bring in other attractions, from movie theaters to parks to libraries, that will give people something to do other than shop.

Robert Gibbs of Gibbs Planning Group, a retail consultant who has worked on projects including Winter Park Village, predicts that half the town centers under construction will be distressed centers in a decade because of competition to stay successful, he said, a town center "should be a 24-hour, active pflace, where people go and they don't feel like shoppers or consumers, but they feel like citizens when they're there." Many of the town centers will have office space Gibbs suggests that should make up about 25 percent of the development, so there will be enough workers to help support the retail.

Some, such as Winter Springs and Maitland, also will incorporate government offices in their downtowns, though Altamonte Springs' City Hall lies two miles from the city's new Uptown Altamonte, and Oviedo's new downtown will be a block away and across a divided highway from its City Hall.

However, the attraction needs to remain after the 9-to-5 crowd calls it a day.

"You need to have nightlife. If not, the place is like a tomb after 5 or 6 o'clock at night," said Britt Beemer, a retail analyst. "You've got to create a buzz."

That's what several cities are trying to do. Altamonte Springs holds many events, including its signature Independence Day festivities, at Cranes Roost Park now the centerpiece of Uptown Altamonte. Winter Springs also stages many community events at its new town center.

Similar activities are being sought for the planned amphitheater in Oviedo's new downtown, and Oviedo and Winter Springs are competing to open a library in their town centers.

At downtowns that are more in the planning stages, such as the one in Maitland, it's a little more uncertain what the round- the-clock draw will be.

Another crucial component of the new downtowns: residents.

For people who live in the town centers, the idea is supposed to be that whatever they need can be within walking distance.

But how many people actually do live and work in the same spot, or do most of their shopping within the town center, is uncertain.

"It's just that you have the opportunity to do it," Norquist said. "People want to buy in a walkable neighborhood, even though they may not, deep down inside, be intending to walk all that much."

Winter Springs' first phase has been criticized for encouraging people to park their cars in an expansive parking lot set behind rows of stores and then come in through back entrances rather than stroll around and peer into storefronts.

Other communities have struggled, too. Retailers have complained that things haven't been buzzing at Oriando's Baldwin Park, where construction of the retail fell behind schedule.

Some cities are struggling simply to get something off of the ground. The original developers of projects in Casselberry and Maitland backed out. The one in Casselberry blamed a soft real-estate market; Maitland's cited a litigious atmosphere.

"I think some of them are working better than others," Norquist said "We haven't reached perfection yet."

WINTER SPRINGS TOWN CENTER

The first phase of Winter Springs Town Center is complete. Winter Springs plans to include a government center in its downtown, as well as residential, retail and office space.

Existing, under construction or under review are 2,400 town houses and condos; 1,000 square feet of retail space, including a Publix grocery store; 573,000 square feet of office space; 99 single-family homes and a dozen garage apartments; park space and public buildings.

WHERE: State Road 434 and Tuskawilla Road.

DEVELOPER: James Doran Co. of Charleston, S.C

CIVIC INVOLVEMENT:

$13 million of public money spent on infrastructure improvements.

STATUS: First phase, including retail and restaurants, is completed, as is the single family-home community; construction under way on town houses and condos.

WHY YOU'LL GO: For city-sponsored events, such as Christmas-tree lighting; Cross Seminole Trail; Central Winds Park; City Hall.

WHY YOU MIGHT NOT: No trendy shops yet

ALIVE AFTER 5? Restaurants and Publix are key draws.

AMBIENCE: The first phase is much like a conventional shopping center, with large parking areas. Major highway divides commercial and residential sections.