ORLANDO, Fla. — The shopping and dining district in Orlando's Baldwin Park is under new ownership and they're hoping to turn things around.
Right now about 40 percent of the shops are vacant, but that could soon be changing, officials said.
Channel 9's Berndt Petersen learned about the new plan some Rollins College students came up with to bring new business to the area.
"We do a lot of things in Baldwin Park, but they don't seem to rally the troops so to speak to bring them in," said Dale Petersen of the property owners association.
Empty storefronts line the streets in the upscale neighborhood.
"The village center needs to be its own place," said Rollins MBA student Dawn Mays.
Mays has a plan, and she and the school's best and brightest have put together a marketing strategy.
"There's a plethora of future consumers for this area. They just don't know it's here," said Mays.
The plan includes rebranding the downtown, marketing Lake Baldwin as a draw, bringing in interesting places to shop and lowering merchant rents.
"I don't believe they'll attract new tenants, quality new tenants, with those numbers," said Jason Chin of the Merchants Association. "They're going to have to be competitive, at least for the time being, until they pick up some speed."
The strategies will be turned over to the village center's new owners.
"Implemented the right way, I don't see any reason why they shouldn't succeed," said Rollins professor of marketing Dr. Jule Gassenheimer.
In all, 20 Rollins executive MBAs worked on the project.
"Every one of them got As on their marketing plans," said Gassenheimer.
The Dallas-based Tabani Group closed the deal on Baldwin Park's Village Center this week.