Hill Elementary School.
Site plans submitted to the city for approval show 541 apartment units, 12,000 square feet of office space, 10,000 square feet of retail space, and 2,600 square feet of restaurant space going up on the 39.44-acre site.
The property sits within the West Town Parkway Activity Center off the east side of S.R. 434. A cluster of single-family homes neighbors the site to the east and south, while an apartment community and a condominium community with a combined total of 500 units rise to the immediate northwest.
A number of big box retailers, including a Costco, Walmart, Target, and Home Depot, are located a short drive away along each side of S.R. 434.
Plans for the mixed-use project on the long-closed golf course property surfaced in early 2021 when Tennessee-based UP Development submitted a preliminary application to the city.
At the time, UP principal Scott Fish told GrowthSpotter he was pursuing feedback from the city to test the viability of the project, in addition to notes on what improvements to infrastructure and pedestrian connectivity the city may require from the company.
Fish said he wanted to determine the “highest and best use for the site,” and that the company has been sitting on the property for a long time with an eagerness to redevelop.
UP Development purchased the property for $3.5 million in 2013 and still owns it. “We were waiting for the right time and the right time is now,” Fish said in 2021, pointing to a demand for housing and a growing population in Altamonte Springs.
An UP Development representative told GrowthSpotter this week that Fieldgate, based in Toronto, has since been tabbed to take the lead on the project. UP will remain involved as a partner.
Leaders with Fieldgate could not be reached for comment as of Thursday afternoon. Site plans drafted by engineering firm NV5 show the retail, commercial, and office components in the center of the site with multifamily units on each side.
Lot 1, on the west side of the property, includes 12 apartment buildings ranging from two stories to four stories with a total of 375 units. A section of lot 1 wraps around to the south of the retail and commercial area, which is where the clubhouse and the pool deck will go.
Lot 2, on the east edge of the site, includes nine apartment buildings ranging from three stories to four stories with 166 units.
All of the apartment units, along with the clubhouse and pool, will be tucked within a gated community.
Lots 3, 4, 5 and 6 comprise the center of the mixed-use development. Lots 3 and 4 are each allotted 5,200 square feet of retail space and 1,300 square feet of restaurant space. The 6,000 square feet of office space
would go in lots 5 and 6.
According to site plans, a main entry road will pass through the commercial zone leading to a T-shaped intersection offering gated access points left or right into the apartment community. “At the center of the intersection, as a focal point, is the gracious apartment clubhouse/ leasing center,” plans read.
The project also emphasizes walkability with extra wide sidewalks, crosswalks at all intersections, and a pedestrian gathering plaza in the retail and office section.
“The neighborhood is interlaced with an uninterrupted sidewalk system for pedestrian connectivity,” the site
plan says. “Residents will be able to walk around the entire site and safely cross into the commercial areas.” A cannery factory once operated on much of this land in Altamonte Springs, covering the proposed site of the mixed-use project and stretching all the way north to where Costco currently stands.
When the factory closed in the early 1980′s, some of the property was converted into a nine-hole golf course. The golf course closed in the 1990′s, and the spot has sat vacant ever since.
“This is the last parcel of the cannery property to be developed,” said Altamonte Springs City Manager Frank
Martz. “This property is ready for development. The project under review is really exciting and we look
forward to seeing it move forward.”
Fieldgate Construction Management has been around since 1957 when its focus was solely on new homes. Since, the company has spawned a number of subsidiaries focused on other development sectors, including Fieldgate Retirement Living, which builds age-restricted communities, and Fieldgate Commercial Properties, which develops outdoor shopping centers.
Its portfolio includes nearly a dozen multifamily residential projects, five office mixed-use projects, and nine commercial properties. All of them are located in the Greater Toronto area.
Up Development, meanwhile, has been active in Central Florida for many years. Projects include Winter Park Square on the northeast corner of N. Orlando Avenue and Lee Road. Tenants at the shopping plaza
consist of Whole Foods, Nordstrom Rack, and Sephora.
The company had owned about 2.2 acres at 900 and 950 N. Orlando Ave. across the street in Winter Park that was at one time rumored to house a potential hotel. Hill Gray Seven bought those parcels in August for $8 million with hopes of attracting a national restaurant or retailing brand.
In Orlando’s tourism corridor, UP Development amassed more than 20 acres of land west of Mall at Millenia
and sold it to Ferrari-Maserati of Central Florida, Rooms To Go, and City Furniture. The luxury auto dealer built its largest Ferrari dealership in the nation at the location and City Furniture completed its 123,500-square-foot store in 2019.
Rooms To Go completed a 57,600-square-foot showroom in 2020 at 4751 Vineland Road.