May 31–A development company has submitted plans to build two 14-story buildings in a major project that would include a hotel, apartments and a large office complex along Interstate 4 in Lake Mary.
City officials called it one of the largest commercial developments in Lake Mary's recent history.
"This is a big deal," City Commissioner Gary Brender said. "That's because it's along the I-4 corridor and it's on one of the last undeveloped parcels of commercial land that our city has."
Plans show the development, New Century Town Center off Rinehart Road, spread across 153 acres and including up to 340 hotel rooms, 350 apartments, 100,000 square feet of retail space and about 1.2 million square feet of office space.
The development is being pitched by Crescent Communities' Orlando office, and the property wraps around the old Siemens Stromberg-Carlson plant just north of Primera Boulevard.
Crescent officials didn't return calls for comment. And Lake Mary officials said Thursday they hadn't yet scheduled a date when development plans would go before the planning and zoning commission and city commissioners for approval.
John Omana, Lake Mary community development director, said the project is in the preliminary approval process.
Even so, nearby property owners and city leaders are lauding the plans, pointing to Lake Mary's recent success in luring in large companies.
"We're very excited about it because we feel it will make a very positive impact for the city and for residents," said Seymour Lenz, a Seminole County resident whose company owns nearly 8 acres adjacent to the development site. "From what I'm being told, everything is going to be first class and upscale, and it sounds like it's going to draw in a lot of people into Lake Mary."
Within the past three years, several large companies that offer high-paying jobs relocated to Lake Mary and the surrounding area.
Those include Deloitte Consulting LLP, which opened a new tech center in 2015 on International Parkway, with hundreds of new positions.
In 2014, wireless carrier Verizon built a four-story building off International Parkway, along I-4, and added nearly 1,000 jobs with an average annual salary of more than $60,000.
"We've been very fortunate in the projects that we have been able to bring in," Mayor David Mealor said. "That's an area that is desirable because of its accessibility to the I-4 corridor."
Brender pointed out that having a large new complex with plenty of office space would be a boon to attracting more companies to Lake Mary.
"It certainly helps," he said. "We have the location. We have the place for people to work here, and we certainly have the places for people to live here."
The towers would rank among the tallest structures in Seminole. The only other building to rival that height is the unfinished 18-story Majesty building overlooking I-4 in Altamonte Springs. That building, still under construction, is owned by Christian television station SuperChannel 55.
A new hotel in Lake Mary also would add to Seminole's 4,400 hotel rooms, giving business travelers another lodging option, city Commissioner Jo Ann Lucarelli said.
"You want to have a place for someone coming here on business to spend the night," Lucarelli said.
[email protected] or 407-420-5718
