Colliers-Managed 483,500-SF Mixed-Use Redevelopment Project Reaches Full Occupancy

Colliers, in collaboration with CASTO, owner and developer of Winter Park Village, announced the successful delivery of the 483,451-square-foot mixed-use regional lifestyle center in Winter Park to full occupancy.

Colliers’ Senior Vice President Alexie Fonseca and Executive Vice President David Gabbai were initially selected by CASTO to lease the retail spaces during the revitalization of the shopping center into a luxury destination in September 2020. Their team devised a strategy to attract popular, high-end retail brands to the property. As a result, rents grew from an average of $28 per square foot pre-Covid to an average of $48 per square foot now, with some spaces reaching as high as $55 per square foot.

The total amount of retail square footage leased or re-leased in relocating tenants at Winter Park Village was roughly 77,282 square feet.

CASTO also intended to convert office space into residential units as part of the $50-million renovation project. However, Colliers’ Executive Vice Presidents of Central Florida Office Services Matthew McKeever and Rick Solik were brought on in October 2020 and have now fully leased up 92,530 square feet of office space at the property.

New office tenants secured since 2021 at Winter Park Village include:

• Wells Fargo Money Management
• Florida Cancer Specialists & Research Institute
• Regus
• First Family Law Firm
• AdventHealth Senior Care

New retail tenants secured since 2021 include:

• Flûtes Champagne Bar seamlessly blends elegance, culture and the rich flavors of France while celebrating the timeless art of champagne-making.
• Brighton will introduce exceptional accessories, including silver jewelry and leather handbags, designed in-house and crafted of the finest quality materials by master artisans. Opening soon and looking forward to treating you like family.
• Rowan, also opening soon, was born in the hills of Yorkshire in 1978 and is home to the most beautiful yarns and outstanding designs to inspire knitters and crocheters around the globe.
• Free Peoplereflects a penchant for high quality, a commitment to lowering environmental impact, and an inherent love for all things bohemian, empowering and fun.
• Tommy Bahama Marlin Bar, a restaurant and bar alongside a retail store where guests can eat, drink and shop, contributes to the immersive experience and shopping and dining destination unlike any other in Central Florida that CASTO and the Colliers Retail Team visualized when the Winter Park Village redesign was presented.

“The Winter Park submarket, with its central location and access, has high appeal for tenants,” said Solik. “This, along with ownership’s extensive property improvements, drove demand for space at the Winter Park Village.”

Change was not a new concept for Winter Park Village, which went from being the Winter Park Mall, a traditional mall that opened in 1964 and closed in 1998, to an open-air center in 1999 that was one of the first of its kind in the country. Redevelopment into the current Winter Park Village began in 2021.

“Winter Park Village is almost a mini-city within a city, especially when you include the apartments that are in place in the former Dillard’s, an anchor at the old Winter Park Mall,” said Brett Hutchens, president of CASTO Southeast. “The response from very high-quality tenants has been terrific. It’s such good real estate. Where else are you going to find 34 acres in Winter Park?”

Long-term Winter Park Village tenants include Publix, Hangry Bison, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse and Regal Cinemas.

“It was gratifying to work with a quality property owner who was willing to invest money to add value to the asset,” McKeever said.

The Colliers Retail Team’s work on this project was awarded the Central Florida Commercial Association of Realtors’ Deal of the Year in 2024.