New Synagogue, Daycare, Townhomes to go before Planning & Zoning Board
Chabad of Greater Orlando is looking for a ‘forever home’ but some nearby residents worry about traffic associated with a new daycare
Aug. 3, 2026
By Beth Kassab
On Tuesday evening the Planning & Zoning Board will hear a proposal to replace apartment buildings that date back 100 years just off Park Avenue with a synagogue, including a daycare, and five townhomes.
The new synagogue would provide a “forever home” for Chabad of Greater Orlando, said Rabbi Dovid Dubov, and would be the only synagogue currently operating in Winter Park.
The 40-year-old organization lost its Maitland building to a fire in 2024 and has been operating out of a temporary space on the far end of North Park Avenue.
“We look at it like it’s overdue,” Dubov told the Voice. “It’s something that many, many Jewish residents of our city have been desiring for a long time … we’re excited.”
A number of residents expressed concerns about the development — not because of a new house of worship — but because they said the original architectural renderings seemed “out of place” and worry about future traffic caused by the daycare.
About 50 people signed a petition that calls on the Planning & Zoning Board to reject the daycare component of the proposal at 210 Morse Boulevard.
“The addition of a daycare center or preschool would generate substantial vehicle traffic during peak morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up periods, increasing congestion, creating safety concerns for pedestrians and motorists, and adversely affecting neighboring residents and businesses,” the petition reads.
Allan Keen, a well-known Rollins college trustee and developer whose credits include Winter Park’s Windsong neighborhood and work assembling land for Universal Orlando, wrote a letter to city officials last month that said the area is already too congested.
“Our residents, and all of the other residents of Winter Park, are already burdened with several daycare and/or church-run schools in the immediate area (Methodist, Congregational and Catholic), that at times, completely block the traffic on Morse, and Interlachen,” wrote Keen, who lives across Knowles Avenue from the proposed synagogue and townhomes in a condo building known as The Landmark, which he also developed.
A traffic analysis cited by city planners concluded that the project is “not anticipated to impact the operations of the surrounding roadway network.”
Keen also wrote that the elevation of the synagogue on Knowles “is over-done and looks greatly out of place.”
New elevations submitted to the city show a more modern-looking design with more windows and without large columns.
The proposal, which is about .6 acres in total, calls for El Cortez, three buildings that date to the 1920s with 38 units to be demolished and replaced by five new townhomes as well as an 80-seat synagogue and a daycare capped at 60 children.
The property is within the Interlachen Avenue Historic District and the Historic Preservation Board approved the demolition last year and required a historic marker be added to the site and that the demolition not occur until a building permit is issued for the new development.
The buildings were originally constructed as upscale apartments amid growing demand for more housing in downtown Winter Park and near Rollins College. Over the years, a number of notable people lived there, according to National Register of Historic Places documents, such as “physician Benjamin Hart; Christopher Honaas, director of the Rollins College Conservatory of Music; Flora Magoun, secretary to the Conservatory; Margaret Windau, district director of the Florida Welfare Board; Helen Drinker, proprietress of a women’s fashion shop on Park Avenue North; and William Stein, a Romance Languages professor at Rollins College of Jewish descent who had recently immigrated from Austria to avoid Nazi persecution.”
City staff is also recommending seven more conditions be placed on the new development including that a rooftop deck for the synagogue not include outdoor speakers or amplified music; all noise and lights from the rooftop must end by 10 p.m.; any expansion of the synagogue or daycare must go back to the city for approval; and car lines related to daycare drop-off or pick-up can not spill onto the public streets. Planning & Zoning will hear the proposal at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
The townhomes, which are being developed separately from the synagogue, will include underground parking garages. The synagogue will also include underground parking with 22 spaces and 13 more surface parking spaces on the site.
Dubov said his organization is small and the synagogue and the daycare will not operate during the same hours, which will lessen traffic and mean that the planned parking will be sufficient. In addition, he said many people will walk instead of drive to the building for services because many observe traditional Jewish laws that prohibit labor, including driving, on Shabbat.
He said the location at Morse Boulevard and Knowles Avenue will provide a central meeting spot that people can reach on foot from across Winter Park, which is known for its walkability.
“We felt like this was the most convenient location for everyone … a middle ground for everyone to give people the convenience to walk from any point,” Dubov said.
He said he doesn’t anticipate frequent events on the rooftop terrace and sees it like a backyard for the organization because Jewish tradition calls for some events or meals to take place outside.
He also said the organization doesn’t carry a traditional label that accompanies many synagogues such as orthodox, reform or conservative. The group’s website notes it is dedicated to “strengthening Jewish life through meaningful educational opportunities, inspiring programs, volunteer initiatives, pastoral care, and community services.”
“We accept everyone from all backgrounds,” Dubov said. “There’s no specific type of Jew we welcome or don’t welcome.”
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
As a lifelong resident of Winter Park, a business owner in the area of Winter Park in question and a member of the Jewish community in Central Florida. I agree that the parking concerns and traffic concerns brought on by a project like this. I also agree that the proposed rendering is not in keeping with the architectural style of Winter Park and the Park Avenue area in general.