My wife and I took a walk around Spanish Spring's shopping and restaurant areas during a break that the evening band was taking and noticed a high "vacancy factor" (a lot of shop space was empty). Spanish Springs is a great location for shops and restaurants, providing that the rental costs for space is in line with the volume of patronage. Given a little time, I would expect the rental costs to align with the patronage and the vacancy factor to drop considerably.

I would be very disappointed if SS disappeared. For those in the historic section it’s a necessity!

You need to actually come to the Spanish Springs area and take a look around. Yes, there are manufactured homes in the historic district but there are many very nice villages south of there. The most recent report by TV said that the average for preowned homes in this area was more than $400K. Hardly the lower pricing you allude to.

The main reason more people go to Brownwood is that it is closer to almost half of the homes since TV has expanded south of the turnpike. That will change again when Eastport opens up. I live north of 466 and only go to Brownwood for specific events. I drive my car when I do since it's a 50 minute trip by golf cart for me.

We love each of the Squares................including SS.
It's a good 45 minute cart ride, but we "enjoy the journey".
We like the Square & the area.
I never shopped there, so I haven't missed the closures.
Went to Katie Belle's a couple times, haven't missed that either.
If people spend money, create demand..........more things will develop.
Whining about the old days ain't going to move the needle.

That's 6 miles/15 minutes from Spanish Springs. Not the same area at all. Brownwood is 8 miles/16 minutes to that Hobby Lobby even.

Here's three drug arrests from people living in the drug side of the Villages. I only went back 60 days since I don't have time to post 100's of incidents.

https://www.**************.com/2024/...ethamphetamine

https://www.**************.com/2024/...t-town-square/

Meth and Mayhem: Florida Man Caught in Golf Cart Chase

For some reason I think of meth as a young poorer person's drug, obviously not.

I would think the only way to revive SS is to completely reinvent the town. The developer IS putting some money into it but cosmetics is not going to do it. That area does seem to be on a slightly lower income level compared to the South. I think a true "Market" town could be a big draw for people. Daily booths of fresh fruits and veggies, homemade jewelry and crafts, candles, lotions, wines and tastings, ect. It would be like an everlasting Farmers Market/ Festival Area. This would draw people from the South up as well, I think. Opinions???

Daily???
Brownwood's weekly market doesn't exactly fill the vendors' coffers.

Lots of walkers, not a lot of buyers.

We live south of 44 and rarely go there. However, last week we went up to the new PGA Superstore and thought, hey let’s go by Blondies and get a drink. Unfortunately that day Blondies didn’t open until 4:00 and we were there around 2 pm. But the square was absolutely deserted. Just a few cars parked with a ton of spaces open. I couldn’t believe it. If you go to LSL or Brownwood the parking is packed even in the middle of the day. Of course in high season everything is packed, but can a square and the businesses survive on 4 to 5 months of boom and then crickets?

Of course on 441 there are a ton of restaurants and stores, maybe a lot of the business is being sucked away by those businesses.

On 441 there are a ton of restaurants and stores, maybe a lot of business is being sucked away (from SS ) by these businesses. Post #70 could be on to something?

Those lower income level folks couldn’t shop daily. Little condescending don’t ya think?
Have a look at post #63……good advice.

One thing you will find in TV is you have no idea income level for many residents. That what is great about TV, nobody asks you what kind of house you live in, they ask what village do you live in and where are you from? Kind of a slap to say that a certain area seems to be on a slightly lower income level, without knowing them personally. Would you be surprised that there are more than one RR, that comes from SS area?

Residents already have a farmers market, in Brownwood that only one business sells out every Saturday, and that’s the French Master Baker. All of the tents at farmers markets, may do one or two days in different places, but the other 5 days they are working, to bring their products or produce to market. So NO a daily market wouldn’t have enough vendors.
There are already wine/beer/ chili ticketed events, at SS. Without the ticket events it would just be a bunch of people looking for free anything, that would produce very little sales.

I dont think SS will go away.
I believe it needs a facelift - much like a commercial office building built in 1987 needs a refresh. I don’t know what the SS refresh actually will be. But Blondie’s is a start.

Banks, Furniture store, HD, Lowes, Publix, Panda Express, nail salon, mattress store, Car wash, Target, Dollar store, Pizza place, ABC are all located near SS.

Same business are also soon to be or already located at Trailwinds area. So don’t see much sucking away from SS

The exception is SS area has Michaels, Sam’s, Pool place, and more brick/mortar shopping than south. But for us glad retail stays far away. 90% of shopping comes right to our door.