FORECAST: The growing Hamlin Town Center

Once a vast area of orange groves, Horizon West is among the top fastest-growing master-planned communities in the country. At the center of the massive project is Hamlin, a 900-acre development with more than two million square feet of commercial property featuring a 10-screen luxury movie theater, a future boutique hotel, office space, single-family residences, luxury apartments, shopping, dining, waterfront establishments and entertainment.

Although a great deal of development has already taken place, there is so much more to come.

Boyd Development announced several new incoming tenants to Hamlin, including a 6,000-square-foot Tiki Docks Bar and Grill Polynesian-themed seafood restaurant, on Lake Hancock south of Cinépolis; and a 59,000-square-foot kid-friendly Urban Air Adventure Park that includes a ropes course, climbing walls, a warrior course and trampolines, to be located south of Publix on Hamlin Groves Trail.

The developer has a number of other confirmed tenants in three sections of its project. In the southwest quadrant near Publix Super Markets are Hamlin Animal Hospital, Moge Tee, Sports Clips Haircuts, Tijuana Flats and P.F. Chang’s China Bistro To-Go, all planning to open in the spring.

Home State Brewing, also in this plaza, is expected to open this month. Owned by Colin and Lexi Vanatta, AJ Alix and Marco Reyna, the social destination features a brewery, indoor taproom, outdoor patio and beer garden and will offer 20 craft beers of various flavors and styles.

In the northwest quadrant near Walmart, are The Blake at Hamlin, an assisted-living and memory-care facility, set to open this month; Ace Hardware, which will open sometime in 2022; and Auto Zone and Taco Bell, both scheduled to open at the end of 2022 or beginning of 2023.

In the southeast quadrant, which Boyd Development calls the Lake District, are Ford’s Garage Hamlin, scheduled to open this month; Tiki Docks Bar & Grill, a Polynesian-themed seafood restaurant to open at the end of 2022 or beginning of 2023; and PopStroke — a miniature-golf concept featuring two 18-hole putting courses designed by Tiger Woods’ TGR Design, food and drink, outdoor games and a playground — which should open in 2023.

Boyd Development also has a hand in the residential market, with multiple sold-out markets: Overlook, The Cove, Hamlin Reserve by Ashton Woods, Sanctuary by Dreamfinders Homes, Enclave and Wincey Groves by Dreamfinders Homes. Lakeside at Hamlin has homes available for purchase, and there are two apartment complexes, Lakewalk and The Lodge. Boyd Development will begin construction on a third apartment complex, Homestead, this month.

Also helping bring desirable businesses to the Hamlin community is Rave Commercial, a developer that is creating Hamlin Plaza, a four-building retail center on Hamlin Groves Trail south of New Independence Parkway.

“Our Hamlin project is spread in four acres, which comprises a total of 40,000 square feet distributed in four buildings,” said Sakshi Shukla, development manager with Rave Commercial. “We finished construction of two buildings. … We are targeting to complete construction of Building 3 sometime in March of 2022.”

“We are preleasing for the remaining 20,136 square feet for medical, office and selected retail categories,” Shukla said.

Building 1, at 5742 Hamlin Groves Trail, is occupied by Esteem Dental, Design Me MedSpa, F45 Training and Oral Facial Surgical Arts. Another dental space and a pediatrician’s office are expected to open within the next few months.

Building 2, at 5736 Hamlin Groves Trail, has one open tenant, Flooring Spot. The remaining three, Pearle Vision, 100% Chiropractic and Farmers Insurance, are expected to open in the first quarter of this year.

Another building currently is under construction.

Already in operation are McCoy Federal Credit Union, My Neighborhood Storage Center, Hamlin Pediatric Dentistry, Amazing Explorers Academy and The Grove Bible Chapel.

One residential complex, Overture Hamlin, is open to residents and caters to an over-55 active-adult crowd.

In the southern portion of Hamlin — north of Orlando Health Horizon West Hospital and Porter Road and east of S.R. 429 — a commercial plaza has the following businesses, all in operation: Hamlin Modern Dentistry, Kiddie Academy, Hamlin Eye Care, Winter Garden Health & Wellness, Modern Foot & Ankle, West Orange Veterinary Hospital, and Upperline Foot & Ankle.

Two medical practices are scheduled to open soon: Pediatric Dentistry of Horizon West and Mid-Florida Endodontics.

Ten storefronts are empty and available for leasing through Coldwell Banking.

THE MARK

The construction boom continues in Horizon West’s Village F with the continuation of Unicorp development firm’s The Mark shopping center project. This is the company’s second Horizon West project, having previously developed Westside Shoppes in the Lakeside Village.

The 21-acre neighborhood center — still under construction along Miley Drive in Winter Garden — has more than 112,000 square feet of inline and outparcel opportunities in 10 buildings or pads for restaurants and retailers.

The Mark is fully leased, according to Unicorp leasing director Taylor Coan, and the first business, Heartland Dental, is expected to open within a few weeks. All tenants should be in operation by spring.

One of the project anchors is New York Beer Project, a destination brewery. It will occupy one of the stand-alone buildings, as will six other businesses: Walgreens, AdventHealth Centra Care, Heartland, Starbucks, 7-Eleven and The Learning Experience.

Three other parcels will hold Papa John’s Pizza, Kenpo Karate Chophouse, EasyVet, PCG Artisanal Burgers, Winter Garden Liquor, Jeremiah’s Italian Ice and AT&T in Building C; Huey Magoo’s, Cadri Meat Market, Piccolino’s Haircuts, Horizon West Barber Shop, Prime IV and Clean Eatz in Building H; and Top Star Surfaces, Cocoon Urban Nails, and Hand & Stone in the third building.

WILL HORIZON WEST GET COUNTY LIBRARY?

The Orange County Library System is considering placing a facility in Horizon West and is inviting residents to take an online survey regarding the system’s growth in the area.

The survey is open to residents interested in the expansion locations at Horizon West and Lake Nona.

The survey asks residents to rate how important it would be for them to have specific services at the library on a range of “very important” to “somewhat important” or “not important.”

Some of the services listed for rating are borrowing materials, computers and printers, study rooms, reading areas, and classes for adults or children.

The library system also inquires on what kinds of events locals would like to see. 

To take the survey, visit bit.ly/3sNfVa2.

MASTERPLAN SNAPSHOT

A website dedicated to the Hamlin town center provides a breakdown of the community in Horizon West.

• More than 200 mature neighborhoods, with another 60-plus currently in development

• Direct access to the State Road 429 Expressway

• Phase I, which features three retail centers anchored by a Walmart Supercenter; Publix Super Market; and Cinépolis, a 10-screen state-of-the-art dine-in theater

• The lakeside Town Center, which mixes retail, restaurants and offices along the shores of a recreational lake

• A 120-key boutique hotel site on the lake

• Lakewalk, with 316 luxury apartment residences, which will provide lakefront living within the Town Center

• 220-acre sports and recreation complex

• Orlando Health Emergency Room and medical complex

• Wellness Way to connect South Lake County to the S.R. 429 interchange at Hamlin