October 17, 2003

DAVENPORT -- The advance of upscale retail and residential development southwest down Interstate 4 gained ground Thursday with a $500 million project that could put an end to the property's storied failures.

Posner Park, brainchild of the late Miami Beach tycoon Victor Posner, got under way in the shadow of the former Baseball City's scrapped stadium for what local leaders hope will usher in a new class of development to Polk County and the Four Corners area.

"I hope it sets a trend that others will follow -- the beginning of east Polk maturing into an urbanized area," Polk County Commissioner Don Gifford said at a ceremony.

Posner Park, rising from the rubble of failed predecessors Circus World and Boardwalk and Baseball at I-4 and U.S. Highway 27, has the potential to impact the area with a projected build-out that eventually will make it home to 4,500 people. The area is booming with residential development, but shopping, restaurants and other businesses have lagged.

"You are starting to see a phenomenal amount of rooftops to the north and south," said Greg Arnone, director of land procurement and development for Boardwalk Land Development. "As the residential developers continue to see a market, those rooftops are going to demand services."

Posner Park's pedestrian-friendly "Garden City" design will incorporate big-box retail as well as boutique shops with condominiums and apartments above, along wide, landscaped boulevards. There also will be a 25-acre business park, 2,600 hotel rooms and an open-space preserve.

Fifty acres for the big-box retail stores are under contract with Atlanta developer BVT Land Development, which also owns the ChampionsGate shopping center in Osceola County.

Those properties will be the first to get under way and the market will dictate the development's progression, said Richard De Lotto, senior vice president of Kitson & Partners, which is handling site development.

Until Posner Park planted its flag on 365 prime acres, Osceola County monster resorts ChampionsGate and Reunion -- 1,200 and 2,300 acres, respectively -- were the farthest upscale outposts on the path to Tampa.

The land is far from virgin territory, though, having hosted elephants, roller coasters and major-league baseball over the years. Investors have always recognized the valuable location but just couldn't come up with the right business plan at the right time.

Posner saw the site as "underdeveloped," said Brenda Nestor, chairman of Victor Posner Enterprises, but he wasn't the first.

Mattel Inc., which owned Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus in 1975, attempted a circus theme park, hoping to feed off the recently opened Disney World. But the park, Circus World, never took off.

Publisher Harcourt Brace Jovanovich took its best shot, trying to capitalize on the American pastime in the mid 1980s. The company bought Circus World in 1986, closed it and redeveloped the site as Boardwalk and Baseball, which became the spring-training home of the Kansas City Royals.

Busch Entertainment Corp. acquired Boardwalk and Baseball in a package deal that included the four SeaWorld parks and Cypress Gardens in 1989 but closed the theme park the next year and spent a decade searching for a buyer for the property.

The Royals' contract expired last year, making the site much more flexible and attracting Posner, who bought the land in 2001 and let it be known baseball's days were numbered. The former owner of Arby's and Royal Crown Cola died a year later.

Posner envisioned a center that would give a downtown to northeast Polk County and generate quality jobs, Arnone said.

Timing will have a lot to do with Posner Park's success. In addition to all of the area's new residences, the plans will come to fruition as I-4 and U.S. 27 are widened, relieving past bottlenecks. Also, the site's previous incarnations competed with the big Orlando theme parks whereas Posner Park will be complementary, Arnone said.

"When you ask residents what they want, they say 'places to eat, sit and enjoy,' " Arnone said. Posner Park will answer that with a "pedestrian-friendly gathering place."

Local dignitaries gushed at the plans they hope will make the spot a gateway to Polk County.

"We certainly are expecting great things," County Commission Chairman Randy Wilkinson said. "This is one of the highest-quality developments, if not the best, along this I-4 corridor."

Lori Cunningham, executive director of the Greater Haines City Chamber of Commerce, said Posner Park will be a catalyst for economic growth in the area.

"This is one of the most terrific things that has happened for economic development in our area," she said. "It's going to beautify this intersection and put Polk County on the map."

Christopher Sherman can be reached at csherman@orlandosentinel.com or 863-422-3395.