After a seven-month-long request for proposals, a town committee has recommended that the Tennessee-based firm UP Development oversee revamping the site of the Robert Hungerford Preparatory High School, once one of the nation’s only private boarding schools for black students. Up Development is behind several large scale shopping districts in the area including Orlando Fashion Square Mall and Winter Park Square. It proposes to turn the town's more than 100 acres of historic land into 1,000,000 square feet of commercial mixed use space, including a 6,000-seat baseball park and entertainment venue with a Minor League Baseball team for the town.
UP Development also plans to allot space for offices, retail, and a proposed re-built Hungerford Elementary School.
The committee made a choice among four developers. Two were able to meet the criteria which included a $100,000 good will deposit. Two were not. That includes a proposal from the town’s former mayor for a technical high school.
The town council will consider the recommendations at an upcoming meeting. That date has not yet been set.