The Sanford Planning and Division Committee voted 4-3 on Thursday to recommend with the approval of a non-profit Christian Plans to activate a historical property in the center of Sanford. However, the organization will have to obtain final approval from the city committee before it can move forward.

Dover Blinz, headquarters Olivet International Association He wants to convert the 100 -year -old Mayfair Hotel to a southern headquarters and missionary training center, with office spaces with an area of ​​27,450 square feet, a 550 -foot museum, a gift store, and 46 housing units. In addition to the main building, the main headquarters will also include an accessory building and a royal pool.

Before the meeting, Sanford planning employees refused to make a recommendation with the approval or rejection of the project, instead of postponing the committee’s ruling. However, employees noticed that the use of the non -profit headquarters contradicts two main visions of the city’s property.

One of the issues is that the Olivit International Association may not have to pay real estate taxes, which will be equivalent to an estimated $ 91,832 of the city’s annual revenues, according to the employee report. The comprehensive city plan also imagines that the property is general use that attracts more vitality and pedestrian activity to the city center. The use of the property as a non -profit training headquarters is not suitable for the bill, according to some commissioners.

Commissioner Miguel Acosta said: “I really haven’t heard anything that would meet the criteria for making the waterfront area more vibrant,” said Commissioner Miguel Acosta. “They will put a very small museum and store there, but this will not bring people to that area.”

Some Commissioners who voted to recommend approval pointed to the fact that the Olivit International Association has money and the desire to restore historical property. A previous royal collection presented plans in 2019 to convert the vacant building into its original use A 130 -room hotel. However, these plans have passed, and the Olivit International Society Buy the property In 2022 for $ 6 million. Three and a half years later, the property, which is perfect opposite Lake Monroe, is still vacant.

“I don’t want this council to be associated with the reason for the demolition of this building,” said Commissioner Mavrick Funberbolis.

Hull Cantor, Land Using Law with Lowndes Those who represented the Olivit International Association at the meeting said that the organization will spend 15 million dollars to 30 million dollars in the renewal project and provide about 400 temporary construction jobs. Up to 150 people can occupy the building, from 50 to 75 of them will be permanent employees. The rest will be trained and missionaries.

“These are the people who will live or work in this building and spend money in downtown Sanford,” Kantor said.

The plans deposited to the city indicate that the housing will consist of a mixture of one or two -bedroom units that will be allocated to the organization’s employees and trainees, who will remain on the campus for up to six months at one time. Most housing, 36 years old, will be on the second floor of the main building, while the supplement building will contain ten additional apartments. The first floor of the main building will carry the area of ​​the office, and the third floor will be allocated to a storage room.

This will not be the first time that a non -profit Christian real estate is used as its headquarters, such as Ethnos 360Previously known as New Tribes Mission, used the Mayfair Hotel as the 1977 training headquarters to 2016. However, Eileen Hinson, Sanford Planning Manager, indicated that the city’s comprehensive plan has been updated since then to encourage a mixture of uses that enhance the vitality of the city center.

The property was built in 1925 and was first operated as a hotel in 1926. The hotel was initially called the Forrest Lake Hotel, which was called the name of its owner, Forrest Lake, a local businessman and politician who held the position of Sanford mayor, and had an effective role in approving a draft law to create the funeral of Seminole in 1913.

The building was later reopened under the name of the Mayfair Hotel, or simply Mayfair, which remained in the process until 1966. The most famous property of its work as a spring -york -gailt -league operation in the spring is famous for the New York Gailts Major League until they moved to San Francisco in 1963.

After the closure of Mayfair, the property was used as a naval academy from 1966 to 1975 before the mission of the new tribes bought it. In 2016, the non -profit organization moved to a new headquarters at 312 W. 1st St. In the center of Sanford. Since then, the previous Mayfir property has not been used.

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