Developer unveils plan for Lakeland mall

With a call for a new, walkable community atmosphere in Lakeland, a California-based developer unveiled a mixed-use plan for a decrepit vacant outlet mall site and surrounding 160 acres last Wednesday night — a project that, if developed, could remove a major eyesore from the suburb’s exit on Interstate 40.

Representatives of Gilad Development Inc. showed The Lake District concept to about 100 residents attending the presentation at Stonebridge Country Club. The plan — with an estimated cost of $120 million — includes rental units, major commercial space on the perimeter and smaller, boutique shops near the middle. Lakeside restaurants and services such as a gym, a day care center, an arts center and paddle boats on a lake are spread through the project planned in the southeast quadrant of the Interstate 40-Canada Road interchange.

Developers will begin seeking approval from the city tonight. There are several subsequent steps needed, but word is the group would like to begin construction by the end of the year.

“I think that’s very doable,” Lakeland City Manager Jim Atkinson said.

The project not only would provide business, service and residential uses, but eliminate the 35acre site of the abandoned Belz Factory Outlet Mall and a strip center annex to the west. The remaining acreage in the development is south of the mall parking lot to the mobile home park along the east side of Canada Road. That land is the former home