DeLand-based bank helps plan commercial plaza in Winter Garden as part of expansion effort

A representative with DeLand-based Mainstreet Community Bank of Florida is helping develop a new commercial plaza in Winter Garden where it’s planning its newest bank branch.

Paul Rountree, regional president and executive vice president at Mainstreet Community Bank, submitted applications in Winter Garden seeking to rezone about two acres of land at and around 12962 W Colonial Dr. to Planned Commercial Development.

Along with the rezoning application, Rountree also submitted an annexation request to annex a portion of the property in Orange County into the City of Winter Garden.

A conceptual site plan shows the proposed commercial plaza will include a new 4,000-square-foot Mainstreet Community Bank branch with a drive-through, as well as two commercial buildings. One office building spans 2,500 square feet and the second building furthest south spans 4,100 square feet.

Currently, the property allows for only restaurant use. It was the site of a former Los Portales Supermarket and Mexican Restaurant that closed during the pandemic.

Vincent Wolle, the founder of Results Real Estate Partners LLC, is marketing the property.

Most of the land is owned by BBBK LLC, led by Bruce Knox and Mhamed Benkiran. Between 2018 and 2019, records show BBBK LLC paid $950,000 to acquire the property.

Rountree, with Mainstreet Community Bank of Florida, is seeking allowances for bank, commercial/retail, office and medical office use.

Highland Engineering is the civil engineer. Powell Studio Architecture designed the conceptual rendering.

The proposal is still being reviewed by the city’s Development Review Committee, before heading to Winter Garden’s Planning and Zoning committee.

Mainstreet Community Bank of Florida first opened in Downtown DeLand in 2003. Since then, the bank began expanding throughout Central Florida in areas like Orange City, Clermont, Ocala and Longwood.

Today, the state-chartered community bank has about eight locations.

Rountree told GrowthSpotter, if completed, the Winter Garden branch would be Mainstreet’s first location in Orange County.

“We’re looking at a couple of other sites,” he said. “This one [the site in Winter Garden] would be number one for that market [Orange County].”

Mainstreet Community Bank of Florida is embarking on an expansion plan that aims to open a new branch per year throughout Florida, Rountree said. It opened its Longwood location earlier this year.

Typically, when a branch opens, the bank will hire seven to eight employees, he said.

The site in Winter Garden is still in the discussion phase. It’s located northwest of the intersection between S.R. 429 and Florida’s Turnpike.

About a mile away, neurosurgeon and real estate developer Dr. Ravi Gandhi is helping build a new two-story medical office, where his group Orlando Neurosurgery will occupy a portion of the building.

The proposed medical office is part of a larger 8.25-acre commercial plaza at 12301 W. Colonial Dr. with plans for a new 95-room Home2 Suites hotel and 7-Eleven gas station that will front Colonial Drive.

Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at arabines@GrowthSpotter.com or (407) 420-5427, or tweet me at @amanda_rabines. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.