With Winter Park’s gas-powered leaf blower ban now in the hands of voters, another ongoing city saga will reboot when commissioners take up the future of the former library building at a May 23 work session.
The 460 E. New England Ave. property has been vacant since Oct. 31, 2021, when the library moved into its newly constructed facility at 1052 W. Morse Blvd. The prominence of its original address, within the gateway to the downtown area, inspired debates over its reuse that spanned numerous workshops, community meetings, and City Commission meetings. However, the proximity of the 45-year-old, 33,000-square-foot building to a residential neighborhood, and the cost of bringing it up to code, have steered much of the decision-making process.
The city sought to limit the impact of traffic on nearby residents with a request for redevelopment proposals that excluded high-volume uses such as food service, entertainment, and retail. The city also required all renovation and maintenance costs to be assumed by the developer. The restrictions led to only two proposals received over two separate solicitation periods.
The first, submitted in July of 2022 by Harbert Realty Services, called for two floors of coworking space with health and wellness tenants on the first floor. The proposal also included an estimated cost of $14 million for code-compliance upgrades. Harbert’s offer of a 20-year lease, starting at $150,000 per year with five 10-year extensions and a 2% annual increase, did not meet the city’s expectations of a 20-40 year lease starting at $300,000 with a minimum 2% annual increase. Commissioners also reconsidered the use of the building, proposing another request in February of 2023 with special considerations for nonprofit use.
The resulting proposal, received in early January from aerospace education nonprofit SOAR (Saving Our Aerospace Resources), combined a first-floor space museum with a second-floor learning center and a third-floor business incubator. The plan failed to meet financial expectations with a proposed 60-year lease that included five 10-year options, an initial $125,000 lease payment set to double after five years, and a 5% increase applied at every five-year interval. The plan was voted down later that month with no further discussions on the future of the building.
Central Florida Vocal Arts Executive Director Theresa Smith-Levin, who is planning a co-op-style facility to serve the local arts community, feels the former library building could serve a purpose, but says the cost of bringing it up to code would be prohibitive. “As a nonprofit, you’re not trying to compile those kinds of funds,” she said. “We would love to use (the library building), but I just don’t think the commission is ready to make decisions that would make that feasible.”
According to City of Winter Park Communications Director Clarissa Howard, there are no updated plans or proposals currently on the table. The work session is scheduled for Thursday, May 23 at 1 p.m., and will be livestreamed with no public comments accepted. Any decision to move forward will be presented for discussion and public comment at a future City Commission meeting. For more information and to access the livestream, log onto cityofwinterpark/org/meetings.