Spanish Springs - the future
 

It seems Spanish Springs will need a major investment of capital in the next 3 to 5 years.
Bottom line, Developer needs/wants to keep rents strong and flowing in. We all see an office building getting a facelift every 20 or 30 years. Same concept.

Are the loss of the 3 restaurants recently a sign (not to mention some of the other places that closed - that wine/beer place)?

SS is in a tough location - I think of amount of housing in all 4 directions. SS doesn’t have many villagers to the north or east.
That was okay when it was only SS and LSL - it was a reasonable drive from LSL area to SS.
Now, those around LSL, can go south, not only to Brownwood, but Sawgrass and soon 2 more areas.
Residents around Brownwood and south, will do the same thing, traveling north to SS less frequently,

UNLESS - SS gets a renovation. New concept, new retail new restaurants.

Does the Developer have "that many" rentals in the area??

Brownwood, yes............but in SS??

"The old order changeth, yielding place to new, and God fulfills himself in many ways."

That was true in the days of King Arthur and is still true today.

I've been thinking the same while I've been looking at houses for sale and where we might want to buy

Is the "north" getting outdated? Is the "middle" the best place to buy? Or is the "south" going to be the place to be in the coming years?

These are some of the questions I ask myself while browsing the homes for sale
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We live south of 44. We’ve been to Spanish Springs once in 3 years. We just enjoy Brownwood more and it’s closer I guess. I don’t wish it any ill will, but they really won’t be getting any income from most in our area. After Eastport is built, there just isn’t really any need to drive a half hour north for entertainment. Retail is starting to boom, Clermont is closer for additional shopping and life couldn’t be better.

Could income verses buying power for that area being reduced because of age and fixed returns be the problem? As we get older, maybe we don’t want to to go to the squares and spend like we used to? Perhaps that may be the major issue.

In 2007, we traveled to SS for pretty much anything. LSL was just getting started, with mostly developer owned sites.

2010-2016 living LSL area we traveled to SS couple times a month, LSL maybe 6 times a month.

Still living in LSL area once Brownwood, had decent occupancy, we traveled to SS once every quarter, just because there wasn’t much that interested us. LSL we might have gone to once a month, Brownwood maybe once a week. Never been a fan of Square music, rarely eat out, because can make it better at home.

My guess is once Middleton and Eastport has decent occupancy, we may travel there the most ( we are south of 44) It’s far closer than SS (50-60 minutes).

I hope SS gets better restaurants and venues, to keep it a viable square. But for us unless it’s something spectacular, we will stop at our once a year doctor visits.

As SS residents don't travel South of 44. :beer3:

Yep
 

The original problem is the area is in a “painted corner” for fixed income patrons catering to a smaller crowd the the rest of the villages. Attritional turn over will take a natural path that will direct lower pricing and different venues.

There was a large article about what is in the works just a day or two after Gator's announcement in the Daily Sun, much of the square is being remodeled with new business tenants under contract but they stated they will announce their names in the near future, they did however note that Planet Fitness I believe it's called is moving into the Rialto which is being remodeled for them so there is a lot going on behind the scenes. That being said we rarely go up there, tried the new Italian restaurant when it opened and was not impressed at all, won't go back to that one. They're not going to forget about the northern residents.

This is us and most of the folks we know. We have lived here almost two years and have been to SS once. LSL maybe 10 times, with Brownwood getting most of our time and money. Eastport will be a frequent destination once it opens. There just isn't anything to draw folks up that far....even the shopping isn't a draw.

Thats another Genesis health club. Roughly 7x-10x times more expensive per month than Planet Fitness (speaking as a non-Medicare customer).

I’ve been a villager now for a year and a half. When I first arrived, I was spending a lot of time at all three squares (4 if you count Sawgrass). I would cart up to Spanish Springs about 3 times a month. Now, I’ll wait for my favorite bands to play at Brownwood, rather than carting way up to Spanish Springs. I now go up there maybe once a month if that, but only if I have a reason, like tickets for something at the Sharon, and then I’ll eat dinner at Coastal Del Mar or Amerikanos if I’m there. There isn’t much else of a draw for me to Spanish Springs. I’m not a shopper, so that’s not something important to me. I do hope that Spanish Springs flourishes for those that live up at the north section and enjoy that square.

SS is where bowling is. So I know that will be a draw for me to head there. If I can find a league (team) that has a need for someone.

It seems to me that the longer people live here the less they go to the squares to listen to music and as a result dont frequent those restaurants. It applies to us for sure

If you don’t live in the SS area why would your opinion really mean anything if you’re not a frequent visitor.
The post, I live south SS and never go there, SO WHAT? Who cares if you don’t? You have really added nothing.