Big Changes Felt on Park Avenue with 'Disruptive' Construction Underway

George’s Cafe owner says the ‘Refresh’ project is hurting business while other sections of the avenue are undergoing a transformation with high-profile closures and new construction for the Rollins art museum and, potentially, a city garage

May 11, 2026

By Beth Kassab

On a recent afternoon, George Paul checked over receipts for the day’s business at George’s Cafe, known for piled-high sandwiches and from-scratch cookies bigger than a fist.

“I lost money today,” said Paul, who has operated the shop in the former Brandywine’s Delicatessen spot on North Park Avenue for six years and, before that, at a location on Lee Road. “And it’s not just today … the sidewalks are torn up. There’s barricades. For our older clientele, it looks hazardous. Our business is down by two-thirds.”

George’s sits in the middle of the first block — from Swoope to Canton avenues — of Park Avenue closed last month as part of the city’s three-year, estimated $8.5 million effort to refurbish underground wires and piping, contain tree roots, upgrade streetlights to a higher-tech model, smooth sidewalks and install other aesthetic changes such as new garbage cans and planters.

Paul said he’s adjusted his hours during the construction to account for fewer patrons.

While city officials see the project, known as the Park Avenue Refresh, as a much-needed antidote for aging infrastructure, merchants are bracing for a temporary dose of pain.

“It’s going to impact every business, including ours, at some point, but it’s just one of those things,” said Alan Chambers, co-president of the Park Avenue District and vice president of operations for John Craig Clothier, which operates two stores on the avenue. “We all lived through the major refresh of 30 years ago and it brought tremendous benefits to Park Avenue. When it’s all said and done, it costs us all a little bit of frustration.”

A New Era for the Avenue

Chambers was referring to the last major series of infrastructure projects on Park, including bricking over paved sections of the road, which started in the mid-1990s when phones didn’t yet have cameras, the O.J. Simpson trial dominated television and the old Winter Park Mall on U.S. Highway 17-92 still stood before it was demolished to make way for Winter Park Village.

Now, the latest refresh project is coinciding with a number of monumental changes that will usher in a new era for the oldest and most celebrated shopping and dining district not just in the city, but across Central Florida.

Park Avenue counted 3 million visitors last year, up from 2.1 million in 2020 and 2.7 million in 2019 before the pandemic. The data is based on consumer tracking software used by the city government that captures unique U.S.-based cellphone signals, meaning some international visitors may not be included in the totals.

Last month, the opening of Brandy Melville, a popular Gen Z brand known for its minimalist aesthetic and beachy vibe, brought lines of customers waiting to enter. Videos posted to TikTok showed a queue of mostly teen and college-age women wrapping around the corner at Morse Boulevard to check out the store, which has been criticized as discriminatory toward some body types for its policy of selling just one size per style (generally the equivalent of a small).

On a recent weekday, 23-year-old Valentina Orive said she drove 45 minutes to shop there — a short distance compared with the three hours she once drove to visit other locations in South Florida.

“I like the quality of the clothes a lot,” she said, noting the Winter Park store, which replaced the Lily Pulitzer, is larger than the others she has visited, except for one in New York City. “They just have really good basics.”

Love Brandy or hate it, some other merchants took advantage of the foot traffic, Chambers said, with at least one nearby boutique, Through the Looking Glass, offering discounts to customers who showed a Brandy Melville receipt.

Longtime Institutions Face Change

Meanwhile, other institutions along the avenue are calling it quits.

Miller’s Hardware, the longest continuously operating family-owned business there, will shut its doors for good sometime during the second quarter of this year after more than 80 years, setting the stage for redevelopment of the block fronting Fairbanks Avenue.

Stephen Miller, owner and grandson of the founder, said he made the decision for multiple reasons that “took the wind out of my sails.” His son, Clay — whom he anticipated would take over the business — died unexpectedly in 2019 at age 29 and, he said, the business simply doesn’t generate enough revenue compared with what the property is worth.

As for what he will do with the prime piece of real estate, Miller isn’t yet saying.

“The future of the property is to be determined,” he said. “I’m weighing options.”

Miller said he would like to see the current batch of city commissioners consider allowing “more density” as aging buildings are redeveloped.

“The plumbing on Park Avenue kept me in business … that stuff is old,” he said. “The City Commission just needs to let there be more density so they can support rebuilding a lot of places people love.”

Behind the Scaffolding

One spot now undergoing an interior demolition and rebuild is 310 Park Ave. S., where the longtime eatery of the same name closed at the end of 2024.

Dyar McComb of Great American Land Management Inc. declined to be interviewed about the work underway at the building owned by the Holler family through a company called PA Partners LLLP, which owns multiple buildings along the avenue.

Signs beneath the construction scaffolding out front display the logo for Oak & Stone, a concept by Artistry Restaurants, the Winter Park-based group that also operates Boca and The Chapman on Park.

Chambers said some people were surprised by the work on the block between New England and Lyman avenues, but the exterior of the 100-year-old building will remain the same.

“There wasn’t anything inside that looked historic, and I’m not sure if anything had ever been replaced, so it’s going to be a wonderful change for that building,” he said. “The Hollers are going to do a good job on that. They are tremendous partners in the city and in the district.”

People forget, he noted, that “at one point that entire space was an Olive Garden and then Fat Tuesday.”

That was before the first refresh project three decades ago, when part of the street was still paved rather than brick and no one had even heard of Y2K much less streaming in 4K.

More Changes on the Horizon

With the latest refresh project well underway, even larger changes are afoot beyond shifting storefronts.

City officials are considering building a three-story garage behind City Hall to ease parking frustrations with 120 new public parking spaces on top of the 145 required for city employees and operations.

And Rollins College is constructing a new 30,000-square-foot art museum across from The Alfond Inn, just blocks from Park Avenue, that will also alter the equation for foot traffic and parking.

The museum is set to open in 2028, the same year the third and final phase of the Park Avenue Refresh — from New England to Fairbanks avenues — is scheduled to take place.

George’s Block to Reopen

As for George’s, Paul said he is grateful his catering business is doing well but wishes the city would do more construction work at night or on weekends, when it would be less disruptive to his breakfast-and-lunch cafe.

Clarissa Howard, who is leading the refresh project, said some work related to the stormwater system will be done at night, particularly when workers must close the entire street.

Each block closure, which includes shutting down one lane of traffic with detours, will last about four weeks, she said.

“There’s always going to be disruption with any kind of construction, but we’re not there for months and months at a time,” Howard said. “It’s four weeks and the infrastructure we’re putting in will last four decades.”

She said the stretch in front of George’s is set to reopen this week and the project will continue moving block by block south toward Fairbanks Avenue.

“We’re definitely hurt,” Paul said. “I don’t know … I wish there was a solution to this. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like when they go down the street.”

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