Goodbye, Mt. Vernon Inn: Unicorp to demo Winter Park hotel for new retail center

Winter Park’s historic Best Western Mt. Vernon Inn is set to become a thing of the past come June 22.

Unicorp National Developments Inc. next week will begin razing the 66-year-old, 147-room hotel on U.S. Highway 17-92 and Morse Boulevard to make way for its $25 million redevelopment of the property into Lakeside Crossing, a 37,473-square-foot boutique retail complex. It’s unknown which companies were named as general contractors for the demolition and for the project.

Kimley-Horn & Associates Inc. is the project engineer and Antunovich Associates is the architect.

Lakeside Crossing, which sits just southeast of Unicorp’s existing Trader Joe’s-anchored Lakeside Winter Park shopping center, is expected to revitalize an older property, bringing more jobs to the region as well as more shopping and dining options for residents and businesses. \

Unicorp recently confirmed to Orlando Business Journal that Chuy’s Mexican restaurant will take 7,000 square feet of space in the center. And President Chuck Whittall also had previously told OBJ Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant planned to take 11,000 square feet of space, and Ra Sushi has signed up for 6,500 square feet.

Signs for Chuy’s and Ra Sushi can be seen on renderings, but not Cooper’s Hawk. Check out some of those images in our photo gallery