Orlando leaders push for development of former Kmart location closed for more than 7 years

ORLANDO, Fla. — After seven years, there's still no new tenant in an old Kmart building near Semoran Boulevard and Curry Ford Road.

An Orlando city commissioner is putting the blame on the owner who lives out of state, saying the vacant building brings blight to the neighborhood.

Kmart left in 2011; since then, the location has been boarded up.

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"Ugly, ugly and we don't feel safe," said resident Lydia Gonzalez. "A lot of my neighbors say, why don't they do something in that building?”

The building sits in the center of the Gateway Orlando district and is a sore spot for District 2 Commissioner Tony Ortiz.

“It's like that scar that doesn't heal,” Ortiz said. "The owner of the property, they don't want to sell. They don't want to develop. They announced that they want to develop but nothing has been done."

The commissioner said the city had no luck offering tax incentives to spur development.

In 2017, it commissioned a study that found the current neighborhood can't handle high end retail, but found a food park, shops, apartments or condos would do well.

Ortiz said he's in talks with four investors - local and international interested in development - but the owner hasn't shown interest.

“I will not stop pushing to develop that property,” Ortiz said. “Either they develop and help our community or we will have to end up doing something."

The commissioner said the city is not ready to buy the land and it is not trying to acquire it by eminent domain.

WFTV reached out to the company managing the building but it's been more than a week and there's been no response.

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