Midtown Plaza owner seeks rezone

In pursuit of a new anchor tenant after the departure of a Winn-Dixie supermarket, the owner of a midtown shopping center is asking the city for some changes to the property’s zoning.

On Thursday, representatives for Midtown Associates appeared at a community workshop to discuss the proposed rezoning of Midtown Plaza, a commercial property at the southeast corner of U.S. 41 and Bahia Vista Street. Those representatives said the ownership group has no specific changes in mind for the property.

Instead, the rezoning is designed to allow the property conform with updated city zoning regulations. Midtown Associates hopes the change will help lure a new store to fill the space at 1325 S. Tamiami Trail, which Winn-Dixie vacated earlier this year.

“We’re not planning to do anything, physically, at this time,” said Joel Freedman, a consultant working with the developer. “We’ve got some issues with the existing zoning on the property.”

Midtown Associates is seeking a change in zoning classification from Commercial Shopping Center Community to Commercial General District. The proposed zoning comes with minimum setbacks of five feet on major roads and 10 feet on minor roads, Freedman said. It also comes with a maximum height of 45 feet.

Property owner Gavin Meshad said he hoped to land a tenant to replace Winn-Dixie before the end of the year. He has had conversations with different types of stores interested in moving into Midtown Plaza, including other grocers. Meshad and Freedman said a new tenant might want less space than the 58,429-square-foot former Winn-Dixie property offers, which would require some new construction.

The rezoning request will next go to the Planning Board and City Commission for review. If the zoning change goes through, Freedman said Midtown Associates would have to return to the city to gain approval for any additional changes to the existing site plan.

For now, Meshad isn’t focused on more significant overhauls to Midtown Plaza — including changes associated with the potential adoption of a new citywide form-based zoning code. He said the owners might consider more significant changes in the future, but for now, their attention is devoted to replacing Winn-Dixie.

“Down the road, if this new form-based code ever happens, we’ll take a look at it then and maybe there’s something we could do,” Meshad said.