P&Z OKs Henderson Hotel
by Anne Mooney / January 8, 2021
A redesigned 132-room Henderson Hotel received approval on a 4-3 vote from Planning & Zoning Jan. 5 – 6. The luxury hotel on the eastern shore of Lake Killarney will feature a 7,500 square foot ballroom and a 220-seat restaurant. The $50 million Henderson project was the final agenda item, closing a marathon 7-hour meeting that went well past midnight into Jan. 6.
After the project was tabled last year, developer Adam Wonus and architects Baker Barrios sent the Henderson Hotel back to the drawing board. Despite the addition of 20 rooms, the size of the building was reduced from 210,522 square feet to 129,100 square feet by placing one level of garage parking underground. The footprint of the building will now allow approximately 44 percent of the total land area to be open green space.
Multiple Concessions Requested
The application includes a request for Conditional Use and multiple requests for amendments to the Comprehensive Plan and the Zoning Code. The proposed 2.97-acre site is an aggregate of several parcels, seven of which are currently zoned residential R1A. Four of the residential parcels have lakefront access. Two other parcels are zoned office. The application seeks to change all these zoning designations to commercial C3 and Open Space Recreational.
The Henderson application also seeks approval to vacate portions of Killarney Drive and Fairview Avenue in order to provide access to the lakefront. The hotel will be set back from the lake 84 feet at the closest point, and the developer proposes to create more than an acre and a half of open space and parkland and to provide public access to a pedestrian viewing dock they plan to build.
Public Comment Sharply Divided and Very Long
There were in excess of 50 public comments, lasting four-plus hours, and they were more or less evenly divided between those who were enthusiastically in favor of the project and those who were vehemently opposed to it. If there was anyone in the middle ground, they remained silent.
The two opinion pieces that accompany this article are representative of the differing views of this project.
Those who like it
Those in favor see the proposed hotel as an amenity for the city, and point out that the Henderson would be the only lakefront hotel in Winter Park. They appreciate the Victorian-style architecture that is reminiscent of the old hotels that were here at the beginning. They look forward to having a place to celebrate special occasions or just have a nice dinner out. The Henderson would provide residents an alternative to the Alfond Inn for visiting friends and relatives. Most seemed to regard the hotel more as a part of the commercial area along 17-92, which needs revitalization, and less a part of the interior neighborhood adjacent the lake. Commenters in favor included a number of residents from the Killarney neighborhood.
And those who don’t
Those who spoke in opposition were concerned about the size of the project and the violation of the Comprehensive Plan provision to, “Protect Single-Family Residential Use in the Killarney Neighborhood from Non-Residential Land Use Encroachment.” Concerns were raised about the subterranean parking garage, which is in close proximity both to the lakefront and to Hillstone Restaurant, and commenters worried about adverse effects to the lake and surrounding properties from the traffic, light and noise a hotel/restaurant/ballroom facility would produce.
Next step – City Commission
Having received the nod from P&Z, the Henderson Hotel application will proceed for a first reading to the City Commission on January 27, 2021.
Open Letter to Candidates for Mayor
Where Do You Stand on the Henderson Hotel?
Guest Columnist Beth Hall
Editor’s Note: Articles written by citizens reflect their own opinions and not the views of the Winter Park Voice.
Qualifying for the Winter Park mayor’s race has begun. Two candidates, Phil Anderson and Sarah Sprinkel, have long been declared candidates for the gavel. Not even a pandemic can stop a city election, so zoom rooms, patios and even living rooms are filling with the pitches of the candidates in their attempts to win your vote. The air, followed by city mailboxes, will begin to fill with candidates’ promises to “protect the traditional charm and character of Winter Park,” as they do every time there is a race for a commission seat.
Henderson Hotel provides a litmus test
Usually, we voters simply must take them at their word. But this year, a litmus test is available to us on this promise right now. That test is the application of Winter Park Historic Hotels Group to build the Henderson Hotel – and where the candidates stand on the issue.
On Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, the Winter Park Planning and Zoning Board heard the request of Adam Wonus and the Winter Park Historic Hotels Group to build a 132-room, five-story, 129,100 square foot hotel and event center with a 205-space subterranean garage on the shores of Lake Killarney. Seven of the lots which comprise the hotel site are currently zoned single family R1A, and four of these have direct lake frontage. The hotel site is next to Hillstone Restaurant but unlike Hillstone, the hotel would have no frontage on 17-92.
P&Z Votes in Favor
P & Z voted 4-3 to recommend construction of the behemoth in the middle of a quiet, lakefront residential neighborhood, essentially taking a blow torch to the city’s Comprehensive Plan. The number of provisions in the Comp Plan which prohibit this type of development is this place are too numerous to count. But the one that objecting neighbors relied upon most heavily to guard their rights to the peaceful enjoyment of their homes was Policy 1-J-9.
Policy 1-J-9 reads:
Protect Single-Family Residential Use in the Killarney Neighborhood from Non-Residential Land Use Encroachment. The City shall preserve and protect the single-family residential land use within the Killarney neighborhood from commercial and office encroachment, excluding parcels that have or obtain Parking Lot (PL) zoning designation along the edges where commercial, office and residential meet. All development should include appropriate landscape buffers, including walls if necessary, so as not to have a negative impact on the residential neighborhood.
Will the Killarney neighborhood lose its residential flavor?
In my opinion the hotel will change the residential flavor of this neighborhood forever, as it would allow the penetration of light, sound, traffic, and more into this neighborhood. The building would dwarf its surroundings at heights of up to 73 feet. Meetings, parties, weddings and other celebrations will be allowed at the hotel, which is a 24/7 operation by definition. And all on a site that includes six residential homes, one of which is currently occupied. The nearest neighbors live directly across the street.
Where do Anderson & Sprinkel stand?
What do the current candidates for mayor think about this project? They cannot vote on it, but they can tell voters where they stand. Neither spoke at Tuesday’s P & Z meeting. Without question, the most important role of the commission is to make land use decisions in our city. Where do they stand? I don’t know, but I sure would like to know before I cast my vote. Whether you are for approval of the project or against it, wouldn’t you like to know too? I ask them to inform voters of their position on this project. Now.
Support for the Henderson Hotel
A Winter Park Community Asset
Guest Columnist Craig Castor
Editor’s Note: Articles written by citizens reflect their own opinions and not the views of the Winter Park Voice.
My wife Sarah and I are both long time Winter Park Residents. We moved into our current home on Lake Killarney almost 20 years ago. While that time has gone by a little too fast for my taste, we have both loved seeing how our community has evolved over the years. With time comes change, but that positive change seems to have missed the area where the proposed Henderson Hotel is planned.
This area, between Hillstone restaurant and the Palm Hills (former Ranch Mall) development, has remained run down and is in need of upgraded redevelopment to come up to Winter Park standards. In fact, at this week’s Planning and Zoning meeting, a fellow Lake Killarney resident mentioned having to take drug paraphernalia out of his young daughter’s hands during their walk in the area. I can only say, I am not surprised.
I am writing to express not only my enthusiastic support, but also my excitement for The Henderson Hotel at Lake Killarney. This project will completely revitalize a forgotten area of Winter Park by removing dilapidated buildings and adding a park space to an area that is hardly walkable at this time.
Henderson is a 17-92 project.
As I sat listening to the presentation of the proposed Henderson Hotel at the Planning and Zoning meeting January 5, 2021, I was struck by what Ross Johnston and some other board members noted about this project. This project is a 17-92 project. It is not a project that is in the Killarney Neighborhood. This project is a Winter Park community project.
Public Outreach
The Henderson Hotel has been painstakingly planned and is a result of an unprecedented outreach by the developers to the neighborhood and to the entire community. My wife and I first learned about the project some three or four years ago and over that time we have been asked to share our views on how to make the project better, more environmentally sustainable and more sensitive to the surroundings.
Timeless Asset
The end result is that the proposed Henderson Hotel project takes into account the wants, concerns and views of the overall community and the neighborhood regarding cut-through traffic, creating a safer environment for the families that live in the neighborhood, creating a neighborhood park, reducing lake traffic by eliminating the deteriorating docks, cleaning up the lakeshore and reducing debris coming into the lake to improve the overall health of the lake. It is incredible that one project can do all of this and also be a beautiful addition to Winter Park. If you have not had a chance to take a closer look at this project, I urge you to do so as we have a great opportunity to add a timeless asset to our community!
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By: Anne Mooney
Anne Mooney has assumed the editorship of the Winter Park Voice from founding editor Tom Childers.
Mooney got her start in New York as a freelance line editor for book publishers, among them Simon & Schuster and the Clarkson Potter division of Crown Books. From New York, she and her husband and their year-old toddler moved to Washington, D.C., where the two ran a newswire service for Harper’s magazine. “We called it Network News,” said Mooney, “because it was a network of the Harper’s writers, whose work we edited into newspaper style and format and sold to papers in the top U.S. and Canadian markets. We were sort of like a tiny UPI.”
The newswire ceased operation with the death of Mooney’s first husband, but Mooney continued to write and edit, doing freelance work for Williams Sonoma cookbooks and for local publications in D.C.
In 2005, Mooney moved to Winter Park, where she worked as a personal chef and wrote a regular food column for a south Florida magazine. She took an active interest in Winter Park politics and was there when the Winter Park Voice was founded. She wrote occasional pieces for the Voice, including the Childers bio that this piece replaces.
The Winter Park Voice is one of a large number of “hyper-local” publications that have sprung up across the U.S. in response to the decline of the major daily newspapers and the resulting deficit of local news coverage. The Voice’sbeat is Winter Park City Hall, and its purpose is to help the residents of our city better understand the political forces that shape our daily lives.
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My husband and I attended the P&Z meeting and do not agree with the “evenly” divided comment at all. There are 15 Kilarney Lake Homeowners who oppose this project and their lawyer spouted incorrect information in a hostile way. Watching the room and listening to the comments, the sentiment among the attendees was overwhelmingly in favor of the project. The City staff did a great job of laying out the current site plan and detailing the protections proposed to ensure the “as-designed” will be the as-built. In my estimation, staff have thoroughly bullet-proofed the plan to ensure the City gets exactly what’s being committed to.
Purely from a development perspective, the Henderson is a magnificent solution to revitalizing the decaying eastern shore of Lake Killarney along 17-92. The hotel will be a crown jewel of the City, a brilliant complement to the new Library and Civic Center complex, and a vibrant cultural nexus for our community. It will generate much-needed jobs, tax revenues, and perpetual stimulus for all the surrounding shops and restaurants.
The design team has created a superb piece of work with an unprecedented level of local community input. The visual footprint of the hotel is neatly engineered to blend into the tree line; coupled with the acoustical and lighting techniques proposed, the property will be largely invisible from the west end of the lake – those homes that have a direct line of sight (LOS) to the site. Having worked in stealth technology for many years, I commend the designers on their attention to full-spectrum signature management.
Regarding the FAR exception, it’s my observation that the Henderson is essentially a clone of the Alfond Inn (another project that had early opposition but was a stunning success), with The variances are ultimately insignificant compared to, and easily justified by, the cultural and economic benefits of the project. Plus, the engineers made sure they covered the light and noise pollution concerns of the residents.
The property values on Lake Kilarney will increase with this project, the people who do not live there will get a lovely addition to the city. We are very much in favor of this project. Which, unlike our weirdly modern designed and too small library, matches the city’s look and feel. This is not going to be a bait and switch project.
We are very much in favor of this project.
This LEED certified project is marvelous! It’s appropriate in every way as a transitional buffer between the 17/92 commercial corridor and the residential neighborhood adjacent to it. After reading the proposed plan, I’ve fallen in love with the Henderson Hotel’s approach to conscientiously developing real estate by leading with environment and community. Adam Wonus and his team should be celebrated as an example of mindful and considerate visionaries for their willingness to build something that will be giving back to the community for years to come. The Henderson Hotel checks every box! Thank you for proposing to clean Lake Killarney, construct Winter Park’s first LEED certified building, create a park and garden for the public to enjoy, and most importantly… listening to the community’s suggestions and working to meet their demanding suggestions. BRAVO!
As a alumni of Rollins College, seeing the development of the Henderson Hotel brings me great joy. I believe this project has the opportunity to provide a unique establishment in an area that desperately needs revitalization. To my knowledge the Henderson Hotel has plans to not only revitalize the area with a great place to conduct business, celebrate special occasions and enjoy family experiences, but also to develop a environmentally safe atmosphere with the protection and preservation of Lake Killarney. Lake front properties provide an extravagant feel to establishments and I believe the Henderson Hotel will succeed in creating this experience for the Winter Park residents and visitors such as myself.
My fellow friends and family that reside in Winter Park are excited about what is to come with the Henderson Hotel Project. Being that this project is the first of it’s kind it gives me hope and encouragement that the trajectory of Winter Park is bright!
I think you mean alumnus, not alumni.
Didn’t they teach you no good English there at Rollins?
I completely agree that The Henderson Hotel is a much needed timeless asset to our community!
This particular site is in much need of beautification and aesthetic upgrade. And quite frankly there is no denying that.
The Lake Killarney area has such historic importance to Winter Park and this project promises to bring back the character and charm lost through dilapidation over the years.
I have never taken my children for a walk in this area, I can’t imagine having to remove a drug needle from their hands. However, knowing the current state and condition it’s not the least bit surprising and this in itself is sad for young families like mine as well as our community as a whole.
I truly look forward to taking a walk with my children and some day their children, enjoying the beautiful views of Lake Killarney, through the park this project also entails. I know that I won’t have to fear what they may pick up off the ground or see.
I’m just so grateful that there are developers like Adam Wonus out there, who are striving to enhance our area so that our next generation can enjoy it more than we have been able to in the last decade or two. Developers who listen and see and research and adapt their plans to what will benefit the community because community matters THE MOST to them!
All of the elevation renderings show the front of the hotel as it faces the lake. The frontage we will see along Orange Ave. is actually the back of the building with its service drives and utilities. Can anyone show an accurate artist’s rendering of the frontage we will see along Orlando Ave.?
Oops, I said “Orange” Ave. Please change to Orlando Ave.
I was at the hearing on Tuesday night. This Henderson Hotel project should be granted approval. The developer has made ample concessions and has satisfied all concerns.
“Beautiful”, “magnificent” – you must be a realtor.
Did any of you really review the size and scale of this building. The reason why the meeting was packed is because these developers are asking for all sorts of gimmes and we’re sick of it.
It’s not a question of whether it’s “beautiful”, it’s too intense period, and especially next to a single family neighborhood. We residents shouldn’t have to be penalized for sloppy land buying or to up developers’ profits because they have too many hands in the pot.
Not even C3 zoning permits a building of this magnitude anywhere in the city. It doesn’t matter how “magnificent” the design is, you can’t erect an ocean liner on a lakefront and expect it to fit in. Quit destroying WP!
Apparently a board member disclosed he had met with his good buddy – one of the investors. She has a long history of currying favors by making politicians her business partners so it set off alarms.
Look, if you can’t stand up to your “childhood friend/school buddy” and do what’s right instead of buckling under pressure, then you shouldn’t be serving on this advisory board.
Folks, this is a MASSIVE project on the OTHER side of 17-92 in a SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOOD.
It’s not the Red Fox Bar.
It’s not the Langford Bar.
It will COMPLETELY change the CHARACTER of Winter Park FOREVER.
Kiss charm goodbye, folks. Whatever charm is still left in Winter Park that is after 9 years of Sprinkel, Leary, and Cooper on the City Commission taking their axe to everything charming about Winter Park.
Think about it.
After attending the marathon planning meeting on Tuesday nite,I was happy to hear it passed.I believe this class A project will not only clean up the deteriorating area,but clean up the lakefront,which needs HELP .AS a 50 year resident on the lake i most welcome a new neighborhood improvement
Charlie is hoping to up zone his house to commercial use so he can make a fast buck and leave his neighbors holding the bag with all the problems stemming from the new commercial density.
The improvement he talks about is the cash in his pocket when he walks away from his neighbors after he sells his place.
Wow. The developer must have put out a flash mob message on Twitter to get all these favorable comments up here so fast!
My prediction – this project will pass 3-2 at the City Commission, after hours of resident comments in opposition to it are ignored. This is old hat in Winter Park by now.
Sullivan and Weaver will vote against the project. Cooper and DeCiccio will vote for it, giving carefully crafted statements about why they must go against the platforms they ran on, and approve it.
Leary is a given, “Yes,” vote, in line with his with his continued financial support from the development community.
Anybody want to bet against me? You’ll lose!
The Hotel squeaked thru P & Z by the hair of its chinny chin chin.
4-3. It nearly failed. The reason is that it’s a 24/7 gig that has a far of over 170% in a place where single family homes are declared sacred by the comp plan. No two ways about that.
We can burn the zoning code and the comp plan, but what will protect YOUR neighborhood and YOUR home when speculators such as these come calling with a plan that violates so many provisions that protect your property rights? Or are you ok with speculators’ rights being given precedence over yours? Because you’re telling these objecting neighbors to just suck it up so you can get a new hotel.
I set aside my evening last Tuesday night so that I could virtually attend the Planning and Zoning meeting scheduled to discuss the Henderson Hotel. It was an elucidating several hours.
By the end of the meeting, I learned that there were some strong opponents, but many, many more enthusiastic supporters. The opponents often relied on emotional arguments or misstated “facts” regarding the hotel when speaking to the Board. Supporters spoke with clear, rational and cogent information that led me to conclude that the proposed hotel would be a very appropriate redevelopment on the east shore of Lake Killarney.
When the Board finally sorted through the presentations, weighing the support by the vast majority of those in attendance (including representatives of the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce, interested citizens, and neighbors to the proposed hotel), considering the facts presented by the developers or other speakers,
and finally, looking to the recommendation of the City staff in its report (which spelled out the significant concessions from the developer that will benefit the City of Winter Park), the Board rightly approved the project.
Just as the Alfond Inn was approved over unfounded objections – or concerns – and has become a wonderful neighbor to nearby residents, as well as a beloved gathering place for our community, I hope that the Henderson Hotel will soon be built and become another appreciated addition to Winter Park.
I don’t see any information regarding how this development impact traffic on 17-92. Can someone please educate me? Thank you.
Winter Park residents’ deserve to have their best interests come first. I know many have been told that all of the neighbors are enthusiastic about this project and nothing could be farther from the truth. We have collected signatures and mapping out those opposed to this project DIRECTLY affected. Those opposed are clearly the majority. Many of those in favor are developers, realtors, or those who have a financial interest in the project or belong to the Chamber of Commerce.
Converting eight residential homesites to a commercial hotel (R1 to C3) and closing off two of our streets (which the developers want the city to give them free of charge) will destroy our neighborhood. Two families allowed all these dilapidated properties to degrade and depress that section of our neighborhood for decades without much intervention from the city. Now these same families want to sell their properties to the highest bidder to build this commercial monolith.
There is little about this project that complies with the Winter Park Comprehensive Plan (which we spent a fortune developing 3 short years ago)
The project is too big. It will overwhelm the neighborhood. There is a little provision for the traffic that 132 room, 225 seat restaurant, and a 7500 square-foot events center will generate. The traffic survey does not account for all the visiting guests to the events and the restaurant. Guests going to weddings and other events will park in our neighborhood or be dropped off by Uber and walk to the party. Not to mention the noise and light pollution associated with all of these events. Guests out on a deck partying and taking photos right next to resident’s bedrooms.
We already have a new hotel built at Lee Road/N Orlando Ave. Winter Park does not need the Henderson hotel, and it doesn’t need an event center in a residential neighborhood. The city is already spending millions of our tax dollars building an event center a block away (the library construction).
There is nothing positive for our neighborhood about this project. Many of us are the second and third generations living in the same houses. Why? Because we love the area and our neighborhood. There are many residential projects that could be built on this site that would fit into the neighborhood beautifully. We will gladly approve a residential project.
On January 28, 2019, a P&Z Meeting slide presentation was about the Henderson Hotel. Slide 25, stated as a “Pro”: “Reasonable expectation would be a transition and re-development of the adjacent neighborhood to townhomes in vacation rentals to take advantage of the proximity to the hotel.” I was hastily told by all those involved writing that slide in the P&Z that the slide was a mistake. However, every single thing that has transpired with this project keeps indicating to us that this slide was deadly serious in getting us out of our homes.
How would you feel if it was being built next to your house? I am asking the city to honor their promises to keep the residents’ best interests first.
If they are going to approve the Henderson Hotel, they might as well rename 17-92 “International Drive” because that’s what it’s going to turn into if Henderson is approved. And while they are at it they might as well rename Lee Road west of 17-92, “International Drive” too because it’s going down that road too. Fairbanks west of 17-92 will be next. You watch.
The axe bar, the hotels, the museums, the McLaren dealership, etc., etc. all TOURIST businesses folks. More to come. NOTHING there for the locals. NOTHING. Parcel by parcel. ALL will be converted to TOURIST zoning.
Want to see what Winter Park will look like in 10 years? Go down to INTERNATIONAL DRIVE in Orlando. You’ll see.
When someone shows you who they are, believe them.
How many of you received the same pitch from Adam Wonus that I received in person? Mr. Wonus told me that he had wanted to be a hotelier all of his life since he was a young boy. That it was all he’d ever wanted to do.
The fact is that Mr. Wonus does own and/or manage an LLC that owns a Winter Park hotel right now. It is the small “Sweet Lodge” Motel on 17-92 at 271 S Orlando Ave. It is near but does not quite connect to the proposed site of the proposed Henderson Hotel behind it.
The motel is dilapidated and seedy. Its parking lot is almost always full of trash, broken furniture and debris. It attracts transients. It is scary. It has been allowed to decline and degrade the area. This is the way he has maintained his first acquisition in lodging. This is the way he has been a “good neighbor” to the residents of Killarney Estates whose peaceful enjoyment of their homes is now threatened by light, noise, sound, activity and traffic from the proposed 5 story hotel which he and his fellow speculators wish to build on the shores of the lake where single family homes sit now.
Yet, he promises that his next venture will be one which will be an asset, one that will enhance the area. His history at the Sweet Lodge suggests otherwise.
Why should we buy this story when we can see what he’s done at 271 S Orlando Ave since 2016?
What’s it gonna be? Honor residents and neighborhoods first as our clearly stated priority in our comp plan or look the other way. Think of the comp plan as our citywide standing law, not just an abstract guideline. That’s why it was critical that the recent P&Z advisory board members and your taxpayer-paid planning staff review and explain the pro/con for a whopping 15 conditional use exemptions by the applicant. Isn’t that what boards do? Ask questions? Explain irregularities? Instead, crickets. Quite the roll-over culture. With this election coming up, voters take note. Your vote can reverse this trend. BTW, how well do we really know this applicant: WP Historic Hotels Group LLC?
Worth a deeper dive.
For now, consider this: Maitland has wonderful set of lakes w many beautiful residences as well as its own tourist attraction: the Great Wall. Maybe wedge a hotel up there? They could use a few more historic properties.