Sanford’s Planning and Zoning Commission voted 4-3 Thursday to recommend approval for a Christian nonprofit’s plans to revitalize a historic property in downtown Sanford. However, the organization will have to get final approval from the City Commission before it can move forward.

Dover Plains, NY-based World Olivet Assembly wants to convert the 100-year-old Mayfair Hotel into a southern headquarters and missionary training center, with 27,450 square feet of office space, a 550-square-foot museum and gift shop, and 46 residential units. In addition to the main building, the headquarters would also incorporate an annex building and an existing pool on the property.

Before the meeting, Sanford planning staff declined to provide a recommendation of approval or denial for the project, instead deferring to the commission’s judgment. However, staff noted that the use of a nonprofit headquarters conflicts with two main visions that the city has for the property.

One of the issues is that the World Olivet Assembly may not have to pay property taxes, which would equate to an estimated $91,832 in lost annual revenue for the city, according to a staff report. The city’s comprehensive plan also envisions the property as a public use that would attract more vibrancy and pedestrian activity to its downtown. The use of the property as a nonprofit training headquarters doesn’t fit the bill, according to some commissioners.

“I didn’t really hear anything that would meet the criteria of making the waterfront area more vibrant,” said Commissioner Miguel Acosta. “They’re going to put a very tiny museum and store there, but that’s not going to bring people to that area.”

Some commissioners who voted to recommend approval pointed to the fact that World Olivet Assembly has the funds and desire to restore the historic property. A previous ownership group filed plans in 2019 to transform the vacant building back into its original use as a 130-room, boutique hotel. However, those plans fell through, and World Olivet Assembly bought the property in 2022 for $6 million. Three and a half years later, the property, which is ideally located off Lake Monroe, is still vacant.

“I wouldn’t want this board to be associated with why that building is demolished,” said Commissioner Maverick VonHerbulis.

Hal Kantor, a land use attorney with Lowndes who represented World Olivet Assembly at the meeting, said that the organization would spend $15 million to $30 million on the renovation project and provide about 400 temporary construction jobs. As many as 150 people could occupy the building, 50 to 75 of whom would be permanent employees. The rest would be trainees and missionaries.

“Those are people who will be living or working at this building and spending money in downtown Sanford,” Kantor said.

Plans filed with the city indicate that the residences would consist of a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom units that would be set aside for the organization’s staff and trainees, who would stay on the campus for up to six months at a time. Most of the residences, 36, would be on the second floor of the main building, while the annex building would hold an additional ten apartments. The first floor of the main building would hold the office space, and the third floor would be set aside for a storage room.

This wouldn’t be the first time that a Christian nonprofit has used the property as its headquarters, as Ethnos 360, previously known as New Tribes Mission, used the Mayfair Hotel as its training headquarters from 1977 to 2016. However, Eileen Hinson, Sanford’s Director of Planning, noted that the city’s comprehensive plan has been updated since then to encourage a mix of uses that enhance the vibrancy and walkability of downtown.

The property was built in 1925 and first operated as a hotel in 1926. The hotel was initially called Hotel Forrest Lake, named after its owner, Forrest Lake, a businessman and local politician who served as Mayor of Sanford and was instrumental in the passing of a bill to create Seminole County in 1913. However, Hotel Forrest Lake closed down in 1928 after its owner was sentenced to prison due to charges of bank fraud.

The building later reopened under the name the Mayfair Hotel, or simply the Mayfair, which stayed in operation until 1966. The property is most famous for serving as the spring training home of the New York Giants Major League Baseball team until they moved to San Francisco in 1963.

After the Mayfair closed, the property was used as a Naval Academy from 1966 to 1975 before the New Tribes Mission bought it. In 2016, the nonprofit moved to a new headquarters at 312 W. 1st St. in Downtown Sanford. Since then, the former Mayfair property has gone unused.

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