Spanish Springs Parking Idea
 

The Developer doesn’t need nightly entertainment in Spanish Springs to attract home buyers anymore. All the development is many miles south. Little marketing benefit would be lost in discontinuing nightly entertainment or events like the monthly drive-in. Those enjoying those events are probably already Villages homeowners, or residents of surrounding communities.

By discontinuing nightly entertainment at Spanish Springs the entire town square could be re-purposed to a large, attractive parking lot. It could be gated with assigned spaces for use by renters in the planned apartments as well as the rumored apartments in the two stories of existing health club space in the La Riena Building. Parking for new apartment renters? Solved! Complaints from renters about too much noise? Solved!

If the movie theatres are re-purposed into a re-located health club as rumored, the main entrance could be in the rear, with parking spaces immediately behind the theater space made private, gated, for use by health club members only.

Complaints would be temporary, coming only from those not likely to be new home buyers. All the businesses in the area, including the Developer-owned Sharon, would likely view the idea favorably. Of course, the Developer owns all the commercial space in the area, so commercial renters would view the idea of less parking pressure very favorably.

New apartments on two floors of the La Riena building is based on a rumor, but it makes sense based on health club employees already having been told of the relocation plan to the theatre space when the health club lease in the La Riena building expires.

Negatives to the idea?

Nightly entertainment is a selling point to the people buying resales in Spanish Springs.

As Mr Wonderful says on Shark Tank take this idea behind the barn and shoot it.

They paved paradise, put up a parking lot

Too many to list.

I'm sure all the restaurants and shops would be just a little upset with this idea. Entertainment brings in paying customers to the square. Not to mention the various parades and so forth.

Perhaps a bit aggressive for the apartment plan:

The site plan, filed with the town on Tuesday, calls for seven apartments in the Van Patten House, the former home of Katie Belle’s. Three of the apartments will be one-bedroom units and four of the apartments will be two-bedroom units. There will be 16 parking spaces dedicated for apartment dwellers and their guests.

That is act 1. Wait for the following act 2-6.

If you’ve ever visited the three-level MVP Athletic Club in the La Riena building, there is space for a whole lot more apartments than are planned for the Katie Belle’s space. Maybe 4-5 times as many depending on the mix.

Parking for them?

If you’ve ever visited the three-level MVP Athletic Club in the La Riena building, there is space for a whole lot more apartments than are planned for the Katie Belle’s space. Maybe 4-5 times as many depending on the mix.

Parking for them?

This is one of the reason I do not believe the plan is for just 7 apartments. If say 50 are done it will change the entire complexion of the square.

Do you visit this square often? Any square?

Yes and yes but Sumter and Brownwood more as we live closer.

Wow you seem to care a lot about our activities. Maybe you should live your own life.

I'll answer the question applied to myself: Yup, I visit Spanish Springs town square regularly. At least once a week, and I drive through it more often than that to get from my house (in the historic section) to other parts of the Villages.

At 50 new units, you'd need 75 parking spaces reserved for residents of those units. Behind the MPV building there are enough for units in that building, without needing any reserved on the street. The Katie Belle's building would need spaces off to the side in the back, closer to Amerikano's, in order to accommodate off-street parking for non-resident patrons of the square and employees.

It's absolutely do-able, but yes it would also absolutely change the complexion of the Square. Currently, residential units surround the Square in the townhouses, and there's a hotel at (not in) the Square with sectioned-off parking spaces in the back. As long as the parking spaces are reserved, and the reservations can actually be enforced (via gate pass or numeric passcode for example), and the spaces are not on the street-side, it should be fine.

My objection to the Katie Belles' thing was its isolation, parking logistics, and the Morse family's ridiculous comparison to Brownwood Lofts, which have amenities on-site and were built on the perimeter of the square, and not just repurposed buildings at the square itself.

But if you repurpose upper floors of a couple of buildings surrounding the square, with resident parking behind and some on-site amenities, then the residents of the square will feel more like a community to each other - and us "regular visitors" will have a more "village-like" atmosphere to visit.

My understanding is that there are no residential properties in theVillage Center Community Development District which is for the most part between Avenida Central and 441/27. This is noted on the district web site.
What about the condos and the proposed apartments? Are those not residential properties?

Entertainment in the Town Squares is a big selling point for the villages? Really..maybe to the Disco Dannys and Disco Sallies who want to relive their youth with third rate bands.

Three Town Squares..generally always busy. But with a population now of probably 120,000..they only attract those who want to drink and think they dance like Saturday Night Fever.

Most people who have lived here a while could care less about the town squares unless they are there to dine.