Winter Garden Eyes Plant Street Consultant

Winter Garden officials are weighing a contract with Retail Strategies as a run of Plant Street business departures unsettles the city’s historic downtown. (wesh.com) The Winter Garden City Commission is scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 23, at City Hall on West Plant Street. WESH reported the Community Redevelopment Agency is recommending a deal with Retail Strategies for $55,000 a year. (cwgdn.com, wesh.com) Retail Strategies says it helps cities “attract retail, strengthen their downtowns, and support local businesses” through market analysis and real estate recruiting. Its downtown division says it works on vacancy backfilling, walkability and action plans rather than long-range studies alone. (retailstrategies.com, retailstrategies.com) The push comes after a burst of property turnover on Plant Street. WESH reported that nine commercial buildings, eight of them on Plant Street, were sold in the last year, with six bought by Anton Properties or Anton RX. (wesh.com, wesh.com) Several tenant businesses have already closed, announced moves or said their leases were not renewed. WESH identified Driftwood Market, Polk Dotz, Three Birds Cafe and Writer’s Block Bookstore among the shops affected this year. (wesh.com, wesh.com, wesh.com) Some owners say the issue is not leaving Winter Garden, but leaving Plant Street itself. Driftwood Market owner Tina Butler told WESH her business is staying in Winter Garden, but side streets bring less visibility from day visitors than the main corridor. (wesh.com) City officials have said they cannot block private real estate deals between landlords and tenants. In February, the city told WESH it did not have the legal authority to intervene in or control those transactions. (wesh.com) That leaves the city trying to influence the district through planning and redevelopment tools instead. Winter Garden’s Community Redevelopment District has been in place since 1992 and covers the historic downtown and the Plant Street corridor east toward State Road 429. (cwgdn.com, cwgdn.com) Plant Street is not a marginal retail strip for Winter Garden. The city says the 22-mile West Orange Trail runs through downtown, the trail draws more than 1 million users a year, and the Saturday farmers market brings about 3,000 to 5,000 patrons each week. (cwgdn.com) Thursday’s vote will show whether Winter Garden wants outside help shaping what fills those storefronts next. For merchants watching Plant Street change block by block, the question is whether consulting advice can arrive before more local names disappear. (wesh.com, cwgdn.com)