PORT ORANGE, Fla. – Several property development companies are bidding for a chance to construct the third phase of a riverwalk in Port Orange.
“This has been two decades in the offing and the next chapter starts tonight,” Port Orange Mayor Don Burnette said.
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He added he’s excited to hear the thoughts of council members and residents attending Tuesday’s city council meeting.
Mayor Burnette showed News 6 the property set to transform into phase three of the town’s riverwalk, which starts at the intersection of Halifax Drive and Dunlawton Avenue, stretching to Herbert Street before it connects to a separate phase of the riverwalk.
There are five bidders looking to get results by offering their plans to develop the area.
Each mixed-use plan under consideration will cost the city around $7 to 9 million. The project is intended for both residential and commercial purposes.
“Restaurants, shops, entertainment—those are the kind of offerings we are going to hear tonight. One of them even has a grocery store,” Burnette said.
Each development plan covers about 10 acres of property, which the city’s general fund is currently paying out around a quarter of a million dollars of debt services.
According to Burnette, this development can help tax payers in the long run.
“So not only do we have a chance to retire about $4 million in debt (and) stop paying that debt service—we will also have the profit of that so to speak—but we are able to take that and reinvest in the area,” Burnette said.
Neighbors at Aunt’s Catfish On the River are excited to see the investment coming to their side of town.
“This is the old side of town. So, I like old sides of town but not if they are dilapidated or in states of blight. So I think an older side of town that has new money (pumped) into it and (is) kind of refurbished is going to be a positive force,” said Brendan Galbreath, the owner of Aunt’s Catfish on the River.
Port Orange city council members will be ranking the bidders at their Tuesday meeting. The top bidder will start their negotiation process, which is expected to be done by March 2022.
It could take anywhere from 16 to 18 months after negotiations have been completed for groundbreaking to begin.