Vacant lot at Kissimmee gateway sells for $1.1M

A Tampa commercial real estate development firm paid $1.1 million this week for a vacant, ¾-acre lot at the corner of W. Vine and Main streets, across from the downtown Kissimmee welcome sign.

The buyer is an affiliate of Brightwork Real Estate, which acquires land and develops commercial properties for a host of clients, among them national banks, restaurant chains and drug stores.

Brightwork already has an approved site plan for a new Chase Bank branch with walk-up ATM and two full service drive thru lanes, according to Planning Manager Brenda Ryan. Kimley Horn is the civil engineer.

“They’ve already been through DRC, and now they’re in for construction plan review,” Ryan said.

The developer must meet special design requirements because the property falls within the city’s Vine Street Overlay. The bank building’s main entrance will face Vine Street with limited parking in the front. “There’s some parking, but it has to be obscured by a knee wall,” Ryan said.

The overlay also includes strict architectural guidelines, Ryan said. “There has to be certain articulations and façade treatments, especially along the corner,” she said. “It can’t just be a flat wall.”

The approved site plan calls for a 3,352-square-foot building with front and side entries.

The seller was an affiliate of the Amalie Motor Oil Company, which had owned the property since 1995 and operated a service station there until it was demolished about five years ago. The vacant lot most recently was used as a construction staging area for U.S. 192 road improvements.

This is the second new retail project in the pipeline for the Vine Street corridor. Last month, Seritage Growth Properties filed construction plans to renovate the Shops of Osceola at 2211 W. Vine St. and build new commercial outparcels along the road frontage.

The shopping plaza at the northwest corner of the Vine and Main also was renovated last year, with a Ross department store replacing Staples as the anchor tenant.

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