Expressway authority moves ahead with Osceola connector road
Rapid development in Osceola County’s East Narcoossee Area, combined with the start of construction in Sunbridge, has prompted the Central Florida Expressway Authority to accelerate work on the proposed NE Connector toll road.
The new four-lane toll road would extend 4.3 miles from Nova Road north to Cyrils Drive, in the heart of the Sunbridge masterplanned community, and would likely include a full interchange at Jack Brack Road.
CFX Director of Engineering Will Hawthorne and consultant Dan Kristoff with RS&H presented an update on the Project Development and Environment (PD&E) study recently for Phase 1 of the toll road. Future phases, which are not a part of the current study, would extend south past U.S. 192, all the way to Florida’s Turnpike south of St. Cloud.
The NE Connector is one of four toll road projects CFX inherited from Osceola County when it absorbed that agency. After an initial Concept, Feasibility & Mobility
Study completed in 2018, the board decided to shelve the project.
“There just wasn’t a need for it at that time,” Public Involvement Coordinator Kathy Putnam said. “They said they wanted to wait until conditions on the ground changed, and there was a need for it.”
Since that time, Tavistock Development Company has begun construction on Phase 1 of its massive Sunbridge Project, and thousands of new homes are being built along Jones Road, Jack Brack Road and Cyrils Drive.
Nearly a thousand new homes have been approved at Nova and Pine Grove roads, and in the Villages of Harmony, Forestar and D.R. Horton are developing over 2,000 homes. Center Lake Ranch, approved for over 3,500 homes, is also gearing up to start construction on its first phase.
Longwood strip mall to be transformed
After years of no luck reeling in the right property investor, a blighted strip mall along State Road 434 in Longwood has a new chance to be redeveloped.
Longwood-based Dounia Development Inc. just paid $4.75 million to acquire the old Township Plaza commercial center at 950 and 1018 W. S.R. 434 with long-term plans to transform the plaza into a vibrant lakefront city center.
The company is linked to a family-run commercial real estate business managed by Bassam, Maha and Chantelle Mnayarji.
As part of the deal, a portion of the strip mall that had perished in fires, not once but twice in its long history, was torn down before the sale. The roughly two-story building was built in the 1980s, around the same time the rest of the shopping plaza was built.
Currently, Township Plaza contains a 23,800-square-foot, single-story retail strip mall along the lake and an adjacent 5,500-square-foot retail building that houses Luna’s Pizza.
Chantelle Mnayarji told GrowthSpotter the family-owned real estate business is currently focused on leasing up vacancies at the plaza and securing a strong cash flow from current and new tenants while upgrades take place.
She said the company is in the midst of repairing the roof and plans to repave the parking lot, add new landscaping and improve the façade. They’re also rebranding the strip mall to Longwood City Center.
Current tenants consist of Luna’s Pizza, Kerryman Pub, Cafe Perks, Vietnamese restaurant Pho Ben Thanh and others including a karate studio and a hair and nail salon. The plaza sold about 50% occupied.
Once Longwood City Center generates a steady cash flow, Chantelle Mnayarji said the family business can begin embarking on long terms plans discussed with city officials to build a three-story commercial building with outdoor patio space and public recreational space along the lake.