A Third More Space to Be Added in Phase Three of The Shoppes at Vista Del Lago
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 Phase three of The Shoppes at Villa Largo is expected to have a design that will contrast nearby tourist strip-style buildings. Leary Management Group |
By Mike Grogan
The Reporter
FOUR CORNERS -- The developers of Vista Del Lago, a 300-acre manufactured-home development on the west end of U.S. 192, have said they will soon start an expansion of the shopping center that fronts the property.
"We should start work in the next month or two and we hope to have it completed by the end of the year," Steve Leary said of the immediate plans to add 24,000 square feet to The Shoppes at Vista Del Lago.
Steve Leary and his brother Bill make up the Leary Group, which began developing Vista Del Lago in the 1980s when that part of Four Corners was mostly rural property and the sprawl from Kissimmee was several miles to the east.
"Twenty years ago, we were on the outskirts of four counties," Steve Leary said. "I guess we were pretty visionary."
The property rests on the southern end of Orange County. Right across U.S. 192 is Osceola County. Just up the street and to the west is the Polk-Lake county line.
On Orange Lake, Vista Del Lago has 925 manufactured home sites, three swimming pools, tennis courts and a million-dollar clubhouse. Leary said about 65 percent of the homeowners are year-round residents and 35 percent are snowbirds.
It was only recently, however, that the Learys¼ began developing the front 12 acres of the property as The Shoppes at Villa Largo. They opened up phase one, a two-story, 24,000-square-foot area of shops and offices in 2004. Phase two, which is the same size building but has a faux second story to match the architecture of phase one, opened in 2005. Both are fully occupied with businesses ranging from restaurants and a camera store to a real estate office and a vacation homes management company.
"We are seeing increased traffic in all our shops," Leary said. "The growth out here is nothing short of phenomenal, especially over the past three years."
The need for phase three, he said, is one indication of just how amazing the growth is and how big an opportunity Four Corners presents for business development. He said the new construction will be much like phase one in that it will be a two-story building offering 24,000 square feet of business space.
"What we're trying to do is bring the level of expectations higher than it has been in the past," Brian Duke of Duke Real Estate, said of The Shoppes at Vista Del Lago.
Duke is handling the leasing of business space for the shopping area that boasts clean, modern architectural design that is in sharp contrast to much of the tourist strip-style construction to the east.
"We didn't want to be just another tacky tourist business," Duke said.
In fact, he noted that because the shopping area is at the west end of U.S. 192, it relies as much on residents for its business as it does on the tourist trade.
"It kind of straddles two markets," he pointed out. "As you approach (highway) 27, it's more residential while to the east it's tourists."
Although no leases have been signed for the yet-to-be-built portion of the Shoppes, Duke said the emphasis will be on businesses that have an appeal to those who live near by.
"Perhaps a junior furniture store because there's so many condos and homes being built in the area," he said. "We have a growing residential presence."
Other potential tenants he mentioned were a bank, video store and ice cream shop.
Meanwhile, Leary said once this building is completed it might not be the last addition to the Shoppes.
"We actually have space for another three buildings," he said.
That's for future consideration, though. Still, with the way Four Corners is growing, it's pretty much a sure bet that the Shoppes at Vista Del Lago will keep growing, too.