LEESBURG, Fla. – In 1915, the first “modern” educational facility was built in Leesburg — now over a century later the site is set to be transformed into apartments.
The former Lee School property is located downtown, south of West Line Street and East of Lee Street.
In May 2024, the school was demolished after plans to save it did not go through, News 6 also discovered that a developer was approved to build townhomes at the site. However, there were not any construction permits available at that time.
Meanwhile, the plan in place for this site was presented to the city council on Monday, and it was revealed it would be a three-story apartment complex with 102 units, according to city records.
To add on, the development team behind this project, Mount Dora based Land Planning Group noted that it is designing this apartment complex to give nods to the city’s past.
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For example, the walls and foundation will primarily be made of brick, and the columns will be made from wood, according to the development plans. There will also be a monument on site explaining the history of the Lee School.
Michael Rankin with the development group said he understood why some may not agree with the project.
“Last thing I want to do is see a building of signific age be torn down. I live in a 100-year-old house, and I painfully spent the past seven years bringing it back to life,” Rankin said. “I get all of that — and the city in my opinion have done a great job in extending flexibility of how do we together solve this problem and develop something this city can be proud of.”
All in all, the city commissioners approved the plans Rankin presented – with the tweak of it being three story building rather than his proposed four. It will then be presented to the planning commission for further approval.
City leaders, such as Development Director Dan Miller echoed support for the apartment complex project. He said it could potentially bring more projects or investment opportunities to and around the downtown area.
“This would be the first of what we’re hoping over time will be several more projects which would be supportive of downtown with different uses and that would increase the investment levels into the core of downtown Leesburg,” Miller said.
Meanwhile, to learn more about the history of the Lee School click here for the report from the National Register of Historic Places.
“I know that everyone made every effort to preserve the building on the site for an adaptive reuse, the problem was just there were no developers that were interested,” Miller said.
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