With a lighthouse design element, an authentic sail suspended over a plaza, and boats used as outdoor furniture, Real Property Specialists is infusing a nautical theme into a unique town center project planned for Maitland.
The Orlando-based company has city approval to build a 300,000-square-foot mixed-use retail center with restaurants, shops, and office space along Maitland Boulevard. Because the property sits near the shores of three lakes — Hope, Charity, and Faith — the project will bear the name Sails of Trelago.
While not yet announced, several tenants are already secured for the project and it will open with a built-in customer base: the 350-unit luxury apartment community Trelago Apartments is next door, while the 116-unit senior adult community The Grove at Trelago is a short walk away.
The site is also adjacent to Trelago Market, which is poised to be anchored by an Amazon Fresh grocery store.
“The location is phenomenal,” said Alan Charron, president of Real Property Specialists. “And we’ve got a great unit mix coming in there with a lot of restaurants and retailers that are needed in the area. We’ll have a combination of some of the national restaurant names that people are familiar with, and then some of the local restaurants.”
Sails of Trelago will be able to accommodate 41 tenants with 154,000 square feet designated for retail and restaurant space and 150,000 square feet devoted to office space, according to conceptual plans.
The layout includes five buildings, including a stand-alone, drive-through restaurant. The largest building comes with space for a concept restaurant with outdoor seating and top-floor office space. Offices will have balconies and decks.
“We’ll have everything from medical-type uses to pet-type uses, it will be a very good tenant mix,” Charron said. “We want families to come out and because of the unique design of the project, it will (encourage) people to want to walk around.”
Sails of Trelago is modeled after a Mediterranean beachside town and features a central entertainment plaza with a unique lighthouse centerpiece built into the design of the largest building.
A full-sized sail will be suspended over the plaza with cables and poles and will serve as the backdrop to the lifestyle center.
“Sails of Trelago is soon to be one of Central Florida‘s most unique town center projects,” said Brandon Wiley, the vice president of sales and leasing with Real Property Specialists. “The lighthouse and life-sized sail feature will utilize state-of-the-art technology to create stunning visual effects such as fish swimming across the project, The central plaza will also include a fun play and dining area for kids and families to enjoy games and other activities.”
The center will feature wide pedestrian corridors. Sidewalks will be embellished with shells and coral. Boats placed throughout the property will be converted into dining tables with sails overhead forming shade.
“This is a legacy project for our company,” Charron said. “It’s going to be one of the marque properties out there.”
Fueled by a growing population, resilient economy, and a fully rebounded tourism industry, retail demand remains strong in Orlando, according to a market report by Cushman & Wakefield that reflects the first quarter of 2023.
At the end of the first quarter, overall vacancy sat at 3.8%, a modest year-over-year decrease from the lowest vacancy rate during the past 10 years. Nearly 188,000 square feet of positive net absorption was recorded in Q1 of 2023.
There was a total of 2.3 million square feet of retail space under construction in the Orlando market at the end of Q1, the second highest in Florida behind only Miami, according to the report.
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