by Beth Kassab | Apr 19, 2023 | City Commission, Library, News
In Brief: More money for public art, Dinky Dock changes and the new fate of the old library
Recent action by the City Commission will pave the way for more art as well as changes at two high-profile landmarks
After years of trying, Winter Park’s Public Art Advisory Board won approval this month for what will likely be a small, but steady stream of funds from the city budget to help pay for art in public spaces.
The City Commission unanimously approved a plan to dedicate 10% of any increase in the Unassigned General Fund each year to the project. That’s the same formula the city uses to devote money to the acquisition of park land, a plan that has raised about $1 million since it went into place in 2003 at an average of more than $50,000 a year.
While a lot of variables can impact the city budget each year, officials said they expect the public art fund to perform at a similar level.
Members of the public art board pleaded with members of the commission last week to approve the proposal and expressed concern that the “city of culture and heritage” didn’t have dedicated funding for art. The City Commission rejected a proposal last year to create a stream of art funding from building permit fees.
“We have nothing to make our ideas happen,” said Elizabeth Ingram, a member of the Public Art Advisory Board for about a year who also grew up in Winter Park. “It’s disappointing when there isn’t anything to bring those to our city. I don’t think we can rely on private donors anymore.”
Tinker Marsh, another member of the board, also expressed surprise that board did not have any dollars to spend on its mission.
“We really need to make Winter Park the first-class community we know it is,” Marsh said.
The board has discussed recommending works of art for the new Seven Oaks Park, Martin Luther King Jr. Park and other city gateways.
Commissioner Marty Sullivan called the funding plan a “good start.”
“This is a very good move in the right direction,” he said.
New plans for the old library
Since the new Winter Park Library and Events Center opened, ideas and debate have swirled around what to do with the old library site on the corner of East Fairbanks and Lyman avenues.
Commissioners rejected a proposal earlier this year to repurpose the old building by transforming it into office and business incubator space among other uses.
Now, however, there appears to be agreement among the commission to ask developers for new ideas and, this time around, allow residential units and also permit the building to be demolished rather than reused.
Commissioners agreed at a work session last week to consider putting out a new Request for Proposal as soon as next month.
A spokeswoman for Rollins College said the school is not currently interested in the site and is considering a workforce housing project elsewhere.
Workforce housing is a hot topic in Winter Park as home prices have soared beyond the means of many of the people who work for some of the city’s largest employers such as Rollins, the hospital and City Hall.
More parking at Dinky Dock
The number of parking spaces at the popular Dinky Dock public boat ramp will increase by 50% to 33 regular spaces and 12 trailer spaces, under a plan approved by the City Commission.
Repairs will also be made to the dock’s boardwalk.
The city will spend about $154,000 on the project from the more than $15 million it received from the federal American Rescue Plan Act or COVID stimulus money approved by Congress in 2021.
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by Beth Kassab | Feb 22, 2023 | City Commission, Library, News, Orange Avenue Overlay
Commissioner: What about market or food hall at new Progress Point?
Sheila DeCiccio asks to bring development ideas forward for new park along Orange Avenue
by Beth Kassab / February 23, 2023
Winter Park City Commissioners agreed Wednesday to push for more urgency in the development of potential retail and business space at Progress Point, a new park under development on the corner of Orange Avenue and Denning Drive.
Commissioner Sheila DeCiccio asked that the board consider putting out requests for development proposals soon and suggested a concept modeled off of the popular East End Market shopping and food hall in Orlando’s nearby Audubon Park Garden District neighborhood.
“I spoke with the businesses on both sides of Orange Avenue … and they want to see this,” she said, noting that Progress Point has the potential to turn that stretch of Orange Avenue into the “next Main Street, but it will not happen if not activated.”
Several small businesses grew into success stories from tiny quarters inside East End Market such as Gideon’s Bakehouse, purveyor of fist-size cookies, which now also has a shop in Disney Springs.
Commissioners agreed to discuss requesting formal proposals in the next month or two along with soliciting new concepts for the old Winter Park Library building, which is now being discussed as potential workforce housing.
The city board also agreed on its lobbying priorities in Washington D.C. this year and added Mead Botanical Gardens and Howell Branch Preserve to its list of parks that would benefit from new federal dollars.
Along with park improvements, commissioners approved another run at acquiring the Post Office property that could expand Central Park along Park Avenue. They would like to see grant dollars to improve stormwater drainage projects in the wake of Hurricane Ian, which brought swift and severe flooding throughout Central Florida in September. City staff noted there would be heavy competition among cities for those dollars.
“How many grants have they actually gotten for us?” asked DeCiccio. “I just want to know what we’re getting for our money.”
City staff responded that lobbyist Jim Davenport of Thorn Run Partners helped secure more than $100,000 for signals at city intersections, which has helped the fire department respond to calls.
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by Anne Mooney | Feb 11, 2023 | Library
Commission will consider workforce housing, other ideas for old library site
by Beth Kassab / February 11, 2023
Winter Park Commissioners this week ended exclusive negotiations with a prominent real estate firm to redevelop the old Winter Park Library and appeared poised to consider workforce housing or other residential units on the site instead.
The 4-1 vote (Commissioner Kris Cruzada was the only dissent) to terminate an agreement with Harbert Realty for the 1.75-acre site valued at about $6 million also effectively halted the commission’s vision to repurpose the building into co-working space along with other uses, including a possible café and room for public events.
Damien Madsen, a managing director at Harbert, pleaded with commissioners to continue the agreement and attempted to negotiate new terms such as a new amount for the ground lease on the property controlled by the city and city oversight over the building leases.
“We put a lot of time into this effort abiding by the deal that we were given,” Madsen said, noting that the city outlined terms such as reusing rather than demolishing the old building and retaining city ownership. “We followed the rules. Based on those rules you set for us, this is the proposal we can give you.”
But commissioners expressed reservations about those parameters now.
“What the commission is grappling with is the use the city really wants for this building,” said Commissioner Sheila DeCiccio of the property at 460 E. New England Avenue across from Rollins College that was left vacant when the new Winter Park Library and Events Center opened in 2021.
Commissioner Marty Sullivan said more ideas need to be considered.
“We did not properly put down our ideas for that building,” Sullivan said. “It makes me uncomfortable that we’re having second thoughts about that. It’s hard to admit I made a mistake and rushed my own thinking of where to go with that property.”
He said he has been approached by other interested Winter Park developers, who have suggested alternative uses such as turning the property into workforce housing for city or Rollins staff, who often can’t afford to live in the city where the median home price in the fourth quarter of last year was more than $860,000 in the 32789 ZIP code, according to the Orlando Regional Realtor Association. The median price for the Orlando region was about $350,000.
Mayor Phil Anderson said he had heard about a potential concept by developer Alan Ginsburg related to workforce housing on the site, but had not discussed it while the city was in an exclusive arrangement with Harbert.
Ginsburg, a well-known local philanthropist who has developed a number of residential projects, including student housing across from the University of Central Florida, did not return a phone call or emailed questions about the concept.
Sullivan noted that the response time for the initial RFP won by Madsen’s group might have been too short, and that given time, other parties have expressed interest in re-developing the building.
Madsen suggested that commissioners could subsidize existing units in the city to create workforce housing options rather than build new units from scratch.
LaWanda Thompson, a resident and advocate for the historically Black community on the city’s west side, said she attended a meeting years ago about what should become of the old library and there was broad consensus among residents that co-working space would be most beneficial.
“I remember my personal request as a citizen from the Hannibal Square community was that there be some re-enfranchisement for businesses of color that need business space,” she said. “I hope that includes space for minority businesses like myself.”
At the start of the discussion Madsen asked to delay a vote on ending the agreement because of questions over whether Commissioner Todd Weaver had resigned and if his participation could cast a cloud of uncertainty over any decision made at Wednesday’s meeting.
Weaver sent a mass email out on Feb. 3 to announce he is “stepping down,” but at Wednesday’s city meeting argued the email did not constitute a resignation and said he planned to stay in his seat. The commission is set to decide whether he can do so at a special meeting next week.
After voting to end Madsen’s agreement with the city, Weaver launched into a PowerPoint presentation he prepared that featured the image of a dinosaur fossil, though it was unclear what he was driving at.
“Darn it, I’m tired of Winter Garden and Tavares pulling over on the cool factor on Winter Park,” Weaver said in a rare admission that other cities were gaining on Winter Park’s regional reputation as a go-to place for dining and strolling. “This is an opportunity to get back on the cool train.”
Image credit City of Winter Park
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by Anne Mooney | Aug 13, 2022 | Library
Possible Deal on Old Library Building
City Enters Period of Negotiation
by Anne Mooney / August 13, 2022
On Thursday, August 11, 2022, three Commissioners voted to enter into a 90-day exclusive negotiation period with Harbert Realty Services, which has submitted a proposal to renovate and manage the 43-year-old former library building on New England Avenue. Commissioners Kris Cruzada and Sheila DeCiccio and Mayor Phil Anderson were present at the meeting.
Commissioner Todd Weaver was out of town and Commissioner Marty Sullivan was representing Winter Park at the annual Florida League of Cities state-wide conference celebrating the centennial anniversary of that organization.
RFP terms limited proposals
The City’s Request for Proposal (RFP) had strict and limiting requirements. Respondents must agree to a land lease rather than a sale; they had to reuse the existing building; and the use had to be compatible with the surrounding neighborhood.
Limitations dictated by Old Library Reuse Task Force
The limitations in the RFP were not the arbitrary decision of this Commission, rather they stemmed from recommendations of the Old Library Reuse Task Force formed in March 2019. The task force held 10 public meetings, interviewed numerous stakeholders and solicited public comment both at meetings and through the City website and social media.
The Committee’s final report concluded, “Most public comment related to maintaining some sort of city control over the site. It was unclear . . . whether the passion for the site meant the building and land, or if just retaining ownership of the land was important. Few spoke to any aesthetic benefit of the structure, but many did speak to keeping property for city and community use.”
Harbert Realty Services the only respondent
In the end, the restrictive terms of the RFP limited the number of respondents to one – Harbert Realty Services. According to City staff, the chief limiting factors were the City’s refusal to sell the building and the requirement to use the existing building.
Harbert has proposed a 60-year term at $250,000 per year, with a 10 percent rent escalation every five years. In addition to the initial 60-year term, Harbert proposed four 10-year renewal options.
First floor would be focused on wellness
Harbert proposes to sublet the ground floor of the building to a combination of wellness-related businesses and a health food café. The upper two floors would host shared office space. Harbert anticipates investing around $10.5 million in the renovation of the building.
Office Space for Start-ups
Damien Madsen, Sr. Vice President and Managing Director of Harbert, stated Thursday that it already has a tenant for the upper two floors. Madsen described the tenant as a nationally branded company “. . .that provides shared workspaces, meeting and training rooms, huddle rooms and a variety of private [and] open seating office space.” The space would be geared primarily toward non-profits and smaller start-up operations who want small space and either short leases, usually for a year or less, or part-time leases for one or two days per week.
Advantages
Harbert’s proposal provides an annual cash flow of $250,000, plus escalation every five years, and it puts the property on the City tax rolls. There will be positive economic benefits from uses in the building, whereas if the building remains vacant it will continue to drain City resources.
Disadvantages
According to City staff, the highest and best use of the property from an appraisal standpoint would be to allow multi-family residential instead of the proposed commercial uses. The property is currently zoned R-4.
Commissioners optimistic
Commissioners we spoke with seemed optimistic about the chances of successful negotiations. Mayor Phil Anderson pointed out that Harbert Realty Services was the only firm that was willing to take on the project. Commissioner Marty Sullivan summed it up this way. “Is the proposal perfect? No, but it’s pretty good. I hope we don’t let perfect get in the way of good.”
If, at the end of the negotiation period, Harbert and the City fail to reach an agreement, City Manager Randy Knight believes one of the two limiting conditions – land lease and using the existing structure – will likely have to change to generate more interest in a project at that location.
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by Anne Mooney | Dec 15, 2021 | Library, News
New WPPL Opens for Business
by Anne Mooney / December 15, 2021
On a cloudless Florida morning, December 11, Winter Park dignitaries were joined by an estimated 1,500 men, women, children, and dogs for the Ribbon Cutting ceremony officially opening the new Winter Park Public Library at 1052 W. Morse Blvd.
The speeches, which always come before everything else, included remarks by the architect, Sir David Adjaye, who was present for the ceremony. Following the speeches, the ceremonial book transfer from the old library to the new took place as Mikayla Miller rode in on the Book Bike, escorted by a marching band.
Once the ribbon was severed, more than a thousand people flowed through the doors of the new library, where there was something for everyone – from roving Marvel superheroes and Star Wars storm troopers to virtual reality and a live discussion between Sir David Adjaye and Library Director Sabrina Bernat.
Architect Sir David Adjaye
Crowd takes in opening remarks.
Mikayla Miller transfers the ceremonial book from the old library to the new.
Architect Sir David Adjaye and WPPL Director Sabrina Bernat discuss the new Winter Park Library.
Making sure everyone’s safe.
Superheroes – always there to help out.
Meanwhile, on the second floor in the children’s section . . .
Kids section is not just for short people – although they’ve made their mark.
Checking out the Computer Lab.
Kids’s section filled with mulit-media.
The new library is now a reality — virtual and otherwise.
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by Anne Mooney | Oct 30, 2020 | Library
Raising the Roof
Library-Events Center Reaches Milestone
by Anne Mooney / October 30, 2020
A group of 50 or so dignitaries gathered this morning, October 30, to celebrate the ‘topping out’ of the Winter Park Library & Events Center. This important milestone – the signing and hoisting of the final roofbeam — signifies that the structural skeleton of the building is now complete. Representatives of the Winter Park Public Library, the construction and the architectural firms and major donors joined the Mayor and Commissioners to place their signatures on the beam.
The signing and hoisting of a roofbeam is an ancient practice dating back thousands of years. Some describe origins from pre-medieval Scandinavian cultures, some refer to native American practices, and still others hark back to 2700 BC Egypt. The ceremony marks the completion of the building’s skeleton, and the beam is symbolic of the upper-most piece going into place as the building reaches its full height.
David Odahowski, President & CEO of the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation, a major donor to the Library-Events Center, affixes his signature to the beam.
Via Skype, design architect Sir David Adjaye said to the assembled crowd, “Today’s topping out ceremony represents a huge milestone in the completion of the Winter Park Library & Events Center. The power of this project is that it represents another prototype, another version of what the library has evolved into – the library as a campus of knowledge. Once completed, the new complex will bring together knowledge and community facilities to make a village, a hamlet of knowledge.”
“The new Library & Events Center in Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, will not only activate reading, imagination and creativity,” said Winter Park Public Library Board of Trustees President Lawrence Lyman, “it will be transformative for our community. . . . I couldn’t be more thrilled that the library’s vision has been brought to life by such a masterful architect.”
The grand opening of the Winter Park Library & Events Center is expected in the Fall of 2021.
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