Glossy new renderings are putting a very different face on Minneola’s future town center, and a lot of neighbors are not thrilled with what they are seeing.
The latest plans show an “upscale” Walmart Supercenter and a Sam’s Club as the two big-box anchors for the 74-acre Minneola Marketplace, a reworked version of the Hills of Minneola town center. The project sits just off the Florida Turnpike near Hancock and Citrus Grove roads, where residents say they expected a walkable, mixed-use hub rather than a pair of giant retailers and seas of parking.
The renderings were first published by WFTV, which identified the site as 1681 North Hancock Road and reported that nearly 3,000 people have signed a petition opposing the big-box anchors. Developers have tweaked the design to show more green space and pedestrian areas, but residents counter that wider sidewalks and pocket parks do not change the overall scale of the retail or the size of the parking lots.
Developer Says Market Realities Prompted Redesign
Sunterra Communities, the developer behind Minneola Marketplace, has said the original “lifestyle center” concept struggled to attract tenants, prompting a pivot to larger anchor stores, according to OnlyInClermont. Site plans dated 2025 show two side-by-side big-box footprints, multiple outparcels, a gas station, and a cluster of luxury apartments that developers argue are needed to support the broader project.
The shift is being framed by Sunterra as a response to hard-nosed market conditions rather than a philosophical change of heart. For many residents, though, the result feels less like a town center and more like a highway retail hub that happens to sit next to their neighborhood.
Neighbors Call It A Bait-and-Switch
“It’s a problem to me, because it’s just not what we signed up for,” resident Madeline Dodier told WFTV.
Opponents have been organizing online and in person. An ongoing petition has drawn more than 2,600 signatures on Change.org, and residents turned out in force for a January open house where Sunterra and representatives from Walmart and Sam’s Club presented updated renderings and traffic-mitigation concepts, according to South Lake Tablet.
Despite the promised tweaks, many neighbors remain skeptical that added parks, plazas, and upgraded landscaping will meaningfully offset the visual and traffic impact of two full-scale superstores and their shared parking fields.
What Developers And The City Say Next
Walmart and the developer say they are trying to meet residents where they are as the plans evolve. Local reporting quotes Walmart’s state government-affairs representative emphasizing ongoing community outreach and dialogue, according to MyNews13.
From here, the proposal will move through Minneola’s standard review pipeline, which includes the Planning & Zoning Commission and potential City Council readings, as laid out by the City of Minneola. Each step will require formal staff reports and public meetings that could shape, delay, or even derail the current vision.
Traffic And Growth Context
The site also faces a big transportation test. Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise has been widening SR-91 near Hancock Road (FPID 435786-1), adding capacity along the corridor but leaving nagging questions about how local intersections and access points will handle new pressure, according to Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise.
Supporters argue that the new interchange, along with nearby hospital facilities and continued housing growth, make sizable retail anchors a logical fit. Critics counter that those same growth patterns are exactly why congestion, infrastructure strain, and quality-of-life concerns should be front and center before any shovels hit the ground.
What to watch: Formal planning documents and staff reports are expected to be posted before any public hearing, and community members say they will be back at City Hall for hearings anticipated in early March, according to South Lake Tablet. For now, the plan remains a proposal, with final approvals still dependent on commission votes and possible council readings that could stretch into the spring.
