SANFORD, Fla. \u2014\u00a0The Seminole Towne Center in Sanford was once a bustling spot for shoppers but is now largely full of shuttered storefronts.<\/p>\n
It is now, however, one step closer to its revitalization coming to fruition after city commissioners approved the first phase modification Monday night.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
Seminole Towne Center in Sanford is set to start its revitalization plan, which includes a Costco warehouse, gas station and liquor store
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Local businesses near the Towne Center say they have felt the impact of the fallen mall and hope Costco can bring more foot traffic
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The Sanford City Commission approved the second reading of a plan to amend about 50 acres of land to help expand space for Costco’s parking lot
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Demolition of the space is expected to start around April, and Costco is planning to open its doors in 2027<\/p>\n
The move makes way for retail giants like Costco to come in and to make use of a portion of the space, which brings optimism to many who live and work nearby.<\/p>\n
For almost 30 years, the 1.1-million-square-foot space that is the Seminole Towne Center was considered a major hub in Sanford and for surrounding areas.<\/p>\n
The Seminole Towne Center boasted the biggest and most prominent stores \u2014 until it didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
And as the mall traffic has shrunk, nearby businesses have felt the affect.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been tough, yes,”\u00a0said Soniya’s Parler Owner Sonal Patel. “Traffic isn\u2019t just what it used to be before.”<\/p>\n
Patel is a cosmetologist, and for about six years, she has been working out of Concept Salon Suites and sits just across the street from the Seminole Towne Center.<\/p>\n
The building gives individual businesses a chance to rent out and work from their very own suite.<\/p>\n
But prior to moving into the Concept Salon Suites, Patel says she worked inside the mall.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was called Brow Art. And then I think there was another one after Brow Art closed but the business was so down,” Patel shared.<\/p>\n
She says that her business is now blossoming but she\u2019d love to see more foot traffic in the area and feels the revitalization plan for the Towne Center, which includes a brand new Costco, could be very beneficial.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope they can do whatever they can to get the traffic running and get the business up, but because of the mall it\u2019s very slow here, very slow,” explained Patel. “So, I hope everything works out and for Costco to come in and it will be very, very good for people around here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Sanford City Commission made it so that Patel’s wish is one step closer to coming true.<\/p>\n
It unanimously approved to amend 48.89 acres of the Towne Center planned development for the first phase of modification to bring Costco warehouse, gas and liquor where the Macy’s once was.<\/p>\n
A big portion of Tuesday’s conversation involved an expansion of the parking lot for the Costco and whether or not adding them, along with landscaping fit within city laws.<\/p>\n
The commission was able to come to an agreement about the parking lot, in its vote.<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s plans don\u2019t end with Costco, however. They\u2019re also hoping to see other retail, and even residential developments at the Towne Center.<\/p>\n
But whatever happens, Patel hopes it happens quickly for the sake of local businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt will be important for people because now everything is closing,” Patel said. “So, one solution is to have everything in Costco, so people don\u2019t go everywhere else. And it should be big. It should be big.\u201d<\/p>\n
Demolition of the space is expected to start around April, and Costco is planning to open their doors in 2027.<\/p>\n
Tuesday’s approval paves the way for a 153,000-square-foot Costco location, and would bring an expanded parking lot as well.<\/p>\n
Other aspects of the reinvigoration effort are expected to include a liquor store, gas pumps to help refill your tank, a 300-unit apartment complex, plus, other retail.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SANFORD, Fla. \u2014\u00a0The Seminole Towne Center in Sanford was once a bustling spot for shoppers but is now…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":151260,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[2031,274,14105,558,115,139,141,140,1014,278,835],"class_list":{"0":"post-151259","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-app-local-business","9":"tag-app-top-stories","10":"tag-brandon-spencer","11":"tag-business","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-orlando","14":"tag-orlando-headlines","15":"tag-orlando-news","16":"tag-seminole-county","17":"tag-top-stories","18":"tag-vod"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}