Village Center Plans Are Moving Forward for the Seidel Village Area

• A childcare center
• Beautifully landscaped and designed multi use retail area
• Earth Fare grocery store
• Walgreens
• Centra Care
• Dentist
• Mini 7-11 with 3-6 pumps
• Starbucks - drive-through along with an outdoor patio area
• Brewery Grill -primarily food, family-friendly from a proven restauranteur in Miami
• Fitness Center
• Yoga Concepts
• French Cafe
• Anthony’s Coal-Fire pizzeria
• Sushi restaurant
• Nail salon

Some retail spaces are still available and could include offerings such as a UPS store and other smaller shop/restaurants

The number of parking spots exceeds Orange County code requirements (about 500). Construction will begin next spring once all Orange County permits are finally approved, with completion estimated early Spring 2021. Unicorp anticipates 3-6 months for individual build outs of the shops and restaurants once turned over so it may be Spring/Summer 2021 before storefronts are open for business.

Residents in attendance raised concerns about light pollution, noise, traffic, signage, locations of things like dumpsters, and the nearness of the grocery store to houses and apartments. Unicorp shared that they are designing the village center for the surrounding neighborhoods, not to attract outside traffic as a destination shopping area would be designed to do.

My Personal thoughts: I love the architectural design – It’s so nice and will look great next door to the multi-family community of Sonoma Hills. My personal concerns: Too much noise and light 24/7 and some buildings are close to houses and apartments. I raised a question about the placement of the Earth Fare grocery store which is located 50 feet away from houses and apartments on Busaco Way Pkwy. Whittall shared that it could not be moved because of coding rules in Orange County. I'm also wondering if the Starbucks and childcare center are too close to the apartment complex – the only thing dividing the apartments from the Starbucks drive-through and childcare center is a sidewalk. Then again, the intent of the village centers in the Horizon West masterplan is to provide a walkable commercial gathering area for it's surrounding residents.

The overall Take-away? Unicorp is saying the right things. They appear to be sticking to the masterplan for Horizon West with shops and restaurants and amenities that fit the neighborhood. In fact, this will probably be one of the most “walkable” village center in Horizon West, with its location so close to the apartments and the residential areas surrounding it. Exactly the definition of walkable garden cities and very much like the experience residents have that live near and in downtown Baldwin Park and downtown Celebration.

Chuck Whittall suspects the residential property values in the immediate area will increase because of the uniqueness of this walkable neighborhood retail/restaurant village center. I suspect he is correct.

Meet you at Starbucks in 2021!