Exclusive: Unicorp to buy site near Disney, break ground on new retail center

Dirt is expected to start moving this year to prep for a new retail center in a fast-growing residential area near Walt Disney World.

Unicorp National Developments Inc. expects to start construction in early fall on Westside Shoppes, a 70,700-square-foot neighborhood shopping center on the corner of Winter Garden Vineland Road and Reams Road in Orange County’s Horizon West master-planned community. A general contractor hasn’t yet been selected for the project.

The estimated $10 million-$14 million retail complex is planned to be part of a mixed-use development that includes a 402-unit apartment complex called Venetian Isle and a middle school. It’s expected to bring hundreds of temporary construction jobs to the area, while also providing much-needed shops, restaurants, services and schools for the booming residential neighborhoods nearby.

The 116.8-acre site, which is just north of the existing Publix-anchored Lakeside Village shopping plaza, is owned by Longmont, Colo.-based North of Alberts LLP, Orange County records showed. Unicorp President Chuck Whittall told Orlando Business Journal his firm should close on the purchase of the entire site in July.

He expects to announce signed retail tenants in another month or two, but some that had previously been mentioned in marketing materials include Tijuana Flats, Keke’s Breakfast Cafe and Title Boxing Club, among others.