OCOEE, Fla. — A piece of land that Ocoee city leaders promised would be filled with restaurants and retail shops has sat empty for the past five years.
Channel 9 was there in 2009 when the Colony Plaza Hotel was imploded to make way for a new development. But since then, the property has become a place for the homeless and drug users.
The property off State Road 50 is high traffic and high visibility. For decades it was a popular hotel and eventually turned into a condominium complex.
"I wish they had not taken it down. I wish they would have remodeled the whole thing," resident Carol Fox said.
Fox's daughter got married at the hotel in the 1990s. She's waited for years to see what would be built at the property.
"Why can't they build here what they have in Winter Garden? It's a beautiful piece of property for shops," Fox said.
Developers planned to make the site a place for retails shop and office space, but it never happened.
The city said that residents who owned condos held up the new construction because the owners wanted a fair price for their property.
Although those cases are closed, the city manager said the property owner is still trying to dissolve the roadways to the old condos in order to market and sell the parcels.
There is still no word yet from the land owner on when or if the property will be ready for revitalization.
"It's a shame. I wish they would just build something over there," Fox said.
The property has already cost the city $1 million for the demolition. City leaders were hoping the new development would make up for that cost.