A Tampa-based team has been recommended for first dibs on turning 14 vacant acres into a North Lake Mirror community of townhomes, apartments, offices and retail businesses. The team assembled by Framework Group beat out two other contenders that included Lakeland-based developers.
Frameworkâs team includes a company close to the project: Civil engineering firm Kimley-Horn and Associates advised the Lakeland Community Redevelopment Authority, which is overseeing the project, on potential uses at the site.
The other two teams that answered the CRAâs ârequest for qualificationsâ for the project included Lakeland developers:
- Broadway Real Estate, with significant downtown holdings, was joined by Lakelandâs Rodda Construction and architect Steve Boyington on one team.
- Gregory Fancelliâs Prestige Worldwide Development Group and former Lakeland Downtown Development Director Jim Edwards were part of the Orlando Neighborhood Improvement Corp. team.
The committee that reviewed the three proposals included representatives from Lakelandâs planning, finance and public works departments as well as the city managerâs office, the Downtown Development Authority and an architect.
The seven committee members were asked to review the proposals with an eye toward each teamsâ experience at complex mixed-use urban communities as well as financial capability.
Frameworkâs proposal received a numeric score of 83.6 out of 100, compared with 72 for Broadway and 71 for Prestige Worldwide.
The review committee was impressed by Frameworkâs experience developing urban projects with a mix of residential types, CRA Director Nicole Travis told her agencyâs advisory board Thursday. The firm has developed communities in Tampaâs Harbor Island and Westshore districts, as well as in Sarasota.
A recommendation to approve Frameworkâs team is scheduled to go to the Lakeland City Commission on Nov. 21. Once a team is selected, it will negotiate with city staff on project details and financials, Travis said.
The site is west of Massachusetts Avenue and north of the train tracks that run through downtown. The city of Lakeland assembled the site by acquiring 53 properties, many by eminent domain, for $8.4 million in the early part of the last decade. The economic recession put plans to develop it on hold. A second attempt to develop it in 2014 fell through when city commissioners rejected both proposals submitted by local groups.
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