Good point Tophcfa about overcrowding near by facilities. I know there's already a need for more pickleball courts in the SS area, let alone with many more people coming into apartments.

Every government, looks to expand and to get more power, for taxes etc that's just the way of life

:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

:cryin2::cryin2:

Great idea
 

I love the idea but would like to see a patio restaurant on the square side. In the shade and would be a great addition to the square

Parking…Parking…Parking
 

Parking for all the apartments…parking for the botique shops…parking for the Sharon…parking for the nightly entertainment.

Nightly entertainment? Kiss that goodbye. It’s no longer needed to attract home buyers to the northern end of The Villages.

Come to think of it, the whole Spanish Springs town square would make a great parking lot! It could be secured with gates for use by all the new apartment renters!

No reference to any proof of what is being said. All rumor for now.

:blahblahblah::blahblahblah::blahblahblah:
Old broken record.

Not enough parking for The Sharon as it is. The Developer spent a ton building it and family members manage it. Kiss the nightly entertainment goodbye. Noisy for renters and requires way too much parking for renters and commercial businesses. As I said above, re-purposing the whole town square into a well-designed gated parking lot for renters would be a great idea. Or half-and-half for renters and the health club.

Again.
:blahblahblah::blahblahblah::blahblahblah:

No it wasn’t. Don doesn’t spread rumors. He only talks about facts he knows is true based on his research.

Turning the MVP/Genesis health club into apartments makes a lot of sense. It was supposed to be a hotel to begin with, right? It can have parking and the main entrance at the rear away from the square. The windows can be made soundproof like the homes near airports but openable for the nights you want to hear the music. Stores on the first level is also a good idea and maybe a few new food places with tables out front. That would be a pleasant environment and shielded from the afternoon sun too.

The Rialto however is a real loss for the square. I always felt that there was a great opportunity here to incorporate a better upscale snack bar with access from both sides so people in the square could run over and grab a quick bite. There is ample room out front to set up an outdoor cafe for snacking while listening to the music too. How about a movie/restaurant where you could eat and watch a movie? Had these back north.

Anyway, yes to the apartments at MVP. No to the Rialto removal. A health club does not have to be located right in the square. This immediate area should be retained for things that all residents can use and enjoy.

Dup

There are many movies that MUST be seen in a theater. Films like Saving Private Ryan, Titanic, Avatar and the Marvel movies look terrible on a television. The big screen and sound is awesome in a theater.

Nightly entertainment is much appreciated by the restaurants and shops in Spanish Springs. Your forgetting about them.

Did you ever think that giving a reference could cost somebody their job?

Yup, I did, and I also said the La Hacienda sports pool is overcrowded as well. And I wasn’t just saying it, I know it for a fact because I live in the area and attempt to use both amenities when able to squeeze in a spot. Perhaps I needed to be more specific, they were very overcrowded last January, February, March, and April (until after Easter). This time of the year the Executive courses in the area are much less crowded and mid-day t times can be had. I don’t play pickle ball, but according to another poster that amenity is already overstressed as well. Granting additional amenity rights to new residential units in a mature area with already overstressed amenities is not at all in the best interest of existing residents.

Katie Bells
 

Very sad about Katie Bells...they need to start it up again in their original location @ the Spanish Springs Square! I've lived here for 7 years & visited prior to that for 16 years & we didn't leave without going to Katie Bells...what a great place to meet up with everyone & dance. The entertainment was fabulous too & the restaurant upstairs was great! It's ashame that they took this establishment away...Spanish Springs is dwindling to nothing & it's NOT fair to the owners of the home in that area!

Katie Belles closed because it was losing money. People would come for the music, buy their 2-drink minimum, and occupy the table space for several hours. This forced other potential customers who might have paid for food to seek their dinner elsewhere.

in addition, this concept of dinner and dancing appealed to an older generation. That generation, while not yet fully extinct, has been mostly replaced by younger generations (multiple) that aren't interested in dinner and dancing in the same venue.

There are lots of things Belle's COULD be, but "dinner and dancing venue" is not one of them, and has already been proven a failed exercise.

I am guessing that the new residents of the apartments will be "breathing in the new life" by spending money at the businesses at the Square

We have 2 friends that are looking forward to the apartments in SS. Sadly with only 7 apartments to start, they hope to beat the waitlist. They enjoy the low key area, and both travel, so apartments are perfect. Both coming from city living, one over a restaurant, and the other over shopping.

As they said, big difference in SS compared to where they lived. 3am traffic noise, and multiple people walking around, will probably be non existent. Music will be the least of their issues, and can listen live without going downstairs, if they want. Their plan store golf cart when not in town, they both have 1 car. So 4 people will be very happy, even though many on this site are not

If the waitlist is long, you will see more apartments in SS. Developer isn’t going to convert if nobody’s signed a lease.

Sounds like you have a plan. Curious what it will cost to put your plan into action?

Wife and I have overwintered in TV for over 20 years.
When were those months any different?

Never, but going forward they will be even worse because of additional residential units with amenity rights, but no corresponding additional amenity capacity.

Perhaps the Spanish Springs town square should be turned into a high rise Memory Care facility Campus as it was originally conceived. Walls that were partially built could be "secured with gates" to retain residents in where every day in the future is a replica of the past like the movie Ground Hog Day. No added parking spaces needed since residents don't need cars. The theater could play a movie "The Sky is Falling" starring Henny Penny. No acorns falling, just parking spaces disappearing.

To what capacity should the amenities be built? Jan/Feb/Mar or the other 8.5 to 9 months a year?

Developer isn’t able to build any more amenities; amenity authority builds them, and residents pay for them.

Think the residents in whatever district want to pay $800,000 for a new pool?

They own the property. They can build amenities if they want to, on their own property. Just like they're building a new rec center at Hacienda, with a snack bar, and a pool, to go with their new 26 villas.

No argument there, but movies are part of show business and when they say show business the emphasis is on business. More and more films are showing up on the small screen because there is money there.

Looks like pretty good record, I didn’t see no skipping….:)

Lots more potential spenders would be visiting the square if they brought back the weekly farmers market.

Amenities in the SS area were built over 20 years ago to accommodate the high season capacity. The problem is that now more capacity is going to be added without a corresponding increase in amenities. Not good at all for existing residents paying for and using the existing amenities.

There will be an increase in amenities. They'll be adding a pool, a rec center, postal station, snack bar, pickleball, shuffleboard, and some other who knows what over at the Hacienda CC property where they're putting up 26 villas.

For goodness sake, you are crying about 7 apartments that don't even exist. The amenities that were built 20 years ago were built for people 20 years younger. Many are not using the so called amenities as often. The Sky is not Falling. All of the belly aching and stories are speculation. A good example is that you can almost always get a tee time in the Spanish Springs area when all southern courses are booked.

Seven apartments are the tip of the iceberg.

No mention off additional capacity for already bottlenecked lap swimming or executive golf.

Here's an idea for the lap swimming issue: get in touch with the rec center responsible for scheduling the swim times at that pool. First though, get in touch with a whole big bunch of people who also are annoyed that they can't swim laps at the lap-swimming pool, because non-lap-swimming clubs are reserving too much time.

Remember though - if people are ONLY swimming laps in this pool, that means only maybe what - 10 swimmers maximum, at any given moment?

Meanwhile the clubs have anywhere between 15 and 25 members in the pool at once, PLUS a couple of lanes set aside for lap swimmers.

Who's making the most use of this pool?

Also meanwhile, there are several other pools in the general area that aren't utilized as much. While they're not sports pools - you can still swim laps as long as you don't get in the way of folks just hanging out in the middle of the pool.

I have no trouble swimming laps at any of the pools I've been in so far.

True, they own it. But they're not building anything yet - how long has it been, over two years now since they demolished the "country club"? The site is currently an overgrown field of weeds.

maybe it would have already been built up ,if a bunch of whiners who mostly didn’t live in the neighborhood hadn’t shown up to complain about how the children were destroying King Harold , or Emperor Harold or the God like Harold’s or which ever name his admires may choose to use VISION

Still whining………….

click bait to get paid for youtube views?