A long-held goal to redevelop the Oviedo Mall into a live, work, and play mixed-use site is showing signs of progress as two developers are planning to bring separate apartment projects totaling nearly 700 units to the property.

Picerne Real Estate Group is proposing to build 350 units where the now-closed Macy’s department store currently stands on the eastern edge of the mall, according to a report in GrowthSpotter.

The Macy’s would be demolished to make room for the project, said Chase Picerne, a development associate with the family-owned company.

“We love the area and love the location,” he said. “We think it will be a really good deal. These apartments are going to help the mall grow and promote future development in the area.”

In pursuing the Oviedo Mall project, Picerne has dropped out of a similar plan to bring apartments to the Seminole Town Center Mall in Sanford.

“This (Oviedo Mall) was a better opportunity for us,” Picerne said.

Meanwhile, another multifamily developer is eyeing a 12-acre stretch of grassy land along the west side of the mall for an apartment complex with as many as 325 units, said Kevin Hipes, development director for the Oviedo Mall and owner of Hipes Consulting and Brokerage.

The city of Oviedo has received a rezoning application and conceptual plans drafted by Kimley-Horn for the Picerne-led project.

Evolving Oviedo Mall lands orthopedic office, Italian market

Plans show seven residential buildings as high as 65 feet, a clubhouse, and a surface parking lot with 630 spaces. The project has not yet gone before any city boards.

The other apartment proposal for the west side of the mall is even earlier in the process. City Planning Manager Debra Pierre said that a member of the project team has applied for a Development of Regional Impact (DRI) change to include multifamily housing on the property.

The next step is for the owner to submit a rezoning application, a site plan application, and an architectural design order application, Pierre said.

In addition to these housing projects in the pipeline, other changes are in store for the mall property. Hipes said he’s working to bring what he’s dubbed “Medical Main Street” to the east wing of the mall.

Those plans got a boost recently when Orlando Orthopedic Clinic, which has about 10 offices around Central Florida, signed a long-term lease to take over 16,000 square feet of space at the mall with the intention to spend $3 million on renovations. This will serve as the anchor to Medical Main Street.

Hipes said he also recently signed a lease with an 8,300-square-foot D’Amico’s Italian Market and Bakery, which will occupy the former Chamberlain’s supermarket. D’Amico & Sons will sell fresh bread, cakes, gelato, grab-and-go meals to heat up at home like chicken marsala and spaghetti and meatballs, cannolis and other pastries, and groceries such as pasta, oil, and wine.

In addition, Regal Cinemas, which occupies the top level of the mall, recently extended its lease with plans to upgrade its 100,000-square-foot facility.

To read more about other early-stage development in Central Florida, go to GrowthSpotter.com and subscribe.