If all goes according to plan for a vacant century-old building in downtown Sanford, residents will occupy apartments on the top five floors while dragons, elves, and sorcerers would take over the bottom level as part of a fantasy-themed restaurant concept.
The city’s Historic Preservation Board is reviewing proposals that aim to bring new life to the downtown area’s tallest building, located at 101 East First Street. The space has been around since the early 1920’s when First National Bank served as its first tenant but has sat completely empty since at least the onset of the pandemic in 2020.
Plans are in motion to convert the top floors into 24 apartment units with a rooftop bar and a newly added elevator shaft. The effort to add the elevator tower, which would provide access to the building via bridges at all levels, involves the demolition of a drive-through bank building on adjacent property.
Steve Hepner with Orlando-based Form Works Architecture is leading this portion of the project along with one of the property owners, Mohammad Rashid, a developer. They could not be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, George Walker, co-owner of the business venture League of Extraordinary Dining, is gearing up to bring a unique restaurant and bar called The Dragon Vault to the building’s ground floor.
“It’s an absolutely gorgeous location and a beautiful historic building,” he told GrowthSpotter. “It’s dead in the smack center of town. Downtown Sanford is absolutely booming and it’s riddled with charm and history.”
A perfect location, Walker said, to bring a restaurant concept that’s sure to delight fans of Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter.
“Walls are going to be covered in stonework, and the drinks will be potion cocktails,” he said. “We are enlisting a lot of inspiration from basically every popular fantasy genre there is. The idea is to make you feel at home in any of your favorite fantasy films. It’s an experience that will have quirky interactive moments.
Walker said menu prices would be in line with what you’d find at The Cheesecake Factory. “It will be nicer plates of food, more upscale casual, but not super fancy.”
Walker formerly worked in the creative department for Universal Studios, Disney World, and Ferrari World. He, along with Emad Shahid and David Perry, launched LXD, LLC, also known as the League of Extraordinary Dining, with a plan to bring Central Florida several themed eateries.
Two of the company’s products are already open in Tavares. The Argonaut Bar & Lounge, located at 122 W. Ruby St., is a submarine-inspired bar and lounge serving wine, craft beer, specialty cocktails, and tapas-style food offerings. Next door, the company’s Nautilus Coffee Co. follows a similar theme.
Walker and his team are also in the midst of another project in Tavares. An old fire station and train depot at 424 E. Alfred St is being converted into a food hall and “Bootleg Brewery” taphouse called Gatsby’s Underground.
Gatsby’s Underground will feature an early-century mobster vibe with a collection of casual delights with a large outdoor patio dotted with fire pits and a fountain.
“Every restaurant that is a member of the League of Extraordinary Dining is going to be a themed space that takes you to a different time, a different place, or both,” Walker said. “We are going to continue to build them. We are going to keep scouting out cool locations and each one will be unique.”
Walker said his team is planning to open other Nautilus Coffee locations in Central Florida, as well as a 1920’s themed dessert venue called The Batter Bar
The Sanford restaurant would be the only one of Walker’s concepts thus far with apartments above it.
“These residents will have a built-in easy go-to place for a meal and drinks,” he said, adding that he may look into renting one of the units.
Dubbed Sanford’s “first skyscraper” in city documents, the building was designed by Mowbray and Uffinger of New York and was constructed in 1922 by George A. Fuller Co. using limestone, brick, and hollow clay tile over a steel skeleton. The First National Bank was located here between 1923 and 1929.
Aside from all of the original windows being replaced, the building has changed very little through the years. The top five levels were most recently used as condominiums. The lower level was most recently occupied by Wells Fargo.
It’s the tallest building in downtown Sanford, according to city documents.
This is the latest project for downtown Sanford that involves apartment units above restaurant space.
In late 2021, Orlando-based developer Lakeview Oak wrapped construction on a mixed-use product with ten apartment units and 2,500 square feet of ground-floor commercial space at the site of the former San Leon Motel in Sanford’s historic downtown district.
With that space fully occupied by a coffee shop (Foxtail), ice cream shop (Kelly’s Ice Cream), and brewery (Ravenous Pig) on the bottom floor., the company is planning a similar, yet significantly larger project just one block away on property currently used as a city-leased parking lot.
Site plans filed to the city show two four-story brick buildings separated by a courtyard with a total of 9,400 square feet of commercial, retail and restaurant space on the bottom floor and a total of 28 dwelling units on the upper three levels.
The property sits at the southwest intersection of Palmetto and 2nd Streets, directly behind Sanford’s historic Ritz Theatre.
Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at (407)-800-1161 or dwyatt@GrowthSpotter.com, or tweet me at @DustinWyattGS. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
