Lakeland developer moves ahead with Massachusetts Avenue plans despite ongoing litigation

A Lakeland developer is pushing forward with an ambitious plan to develop North Massachusetts Avenue in a way that would change the city's skyline and atmosphere.

Gregory Fancelli, 47, is designing a multi-story, mixed-use development at 313 N. Massachusetts Ave. that pays homage to the city's former Hotel Thelma.

"I've been working on this since 2016," he said. "I'm moving forward with design, and I hope to get into permitting by the end of this year. That way we can get something off the ground next year."

The first draft of the project focuses on ground level commercial space that Fancelli said could be used for retail, cafes, bars and potentially restaurants. There would be onsite parking along the backside of the building.

The upper stories of the building would consist of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. Unlike many downtown multi-residential projects, the drafted plans show a higher number of two- and three-bedroom units. For example, one floor plan shows a mix of two one-bedroom, 10 two-bedroom and two three-bedroom apartments ranging in size from 761 to 1,246 square feet.

Fancelli said he hopes to utilize the rooftop of the building as a event space, restaurant or bar, providing a view of the city while maximizing use of space.

"It's something that's not typically seen here in Lakeland," he said.

It would carve out a niche to preserve the former chapel at 417 N. Massachusetts Ave. As a historic preservationist, Fancelli said he wants to protect the structure designed by renowned architect Donovan Dean, who also designed the Southgate Shopping Center Arch and the original Publix corporate headquarters. It is likely to get a new exterior coat of paint, he said, with charcoal color under consideration.

Fancelli has filed litigation against the city for denying its use as a bar and special events venue in January 2023.

"The church was just an excuse," Fancelli told The Ledger. "The whole thing got concocted to make the denial about the church's distance from the building."

End of the the chapel? Maybe not

Fancelli has spent years acquiring the property along the 300 and 400 blocks of North Massachusetts Avenue, from the former Greyhound Bus station at 303 N. Massachusetts Ave. north past the funeral home at 417 N. Massachusetts Ave.

The area is largely vacant now with the chapel last utilized in 2017. Its proposed use as a bar and event space by Stuart and Kara Simm was denied the necessary conditional use permit by a 5-2 vote last year.

The public hearing for "The Chapel," a proposed bar and special events venue was mired in controversy, stirred up as residents came forward with a picture of Simm's former Federal Bar employees dressed as nuns. A pastor from the adjacent Iglesia Ni Cristo pled for its denial, saying he feared for the safety of his congregation, which meets twice a week for services and activities.

Lakeland commissioners denied the conditional permit use for a bar and special events venue citing it was incompatible with the surrounding area.

"That can be read subjectively," Fancelli said. "What may be compatible to you may not be compatible to me."

The complaint filed with Polk County courts cites the city's Planning and Zoning Board voted unanimously in favor of the project, based on the city's own expert staff recommendations, yet denied it based on the emotional, often religious appeals of about 21 residents.

"The ironic thing was city staff was in favor of that project," Fancelli said. "They understood we need something in an area that's vacant, whether it's a bar, event space or something like that."

Lakeland commissioners in their notice of denial referenced a city code that prohibits a bar or alcohol-serving establishment from being within 500 feet of a church, synagogue or other religious place of worship. In downtown, that distance is shortened to 300 feet measured by the shortest pedestrian route.

The city claims the door to the active church was less than 300 feet from the now vacant chapel, a claim Fancelli disputes.

"We did some investigating. The [church's] door is padlocked on the outside, wall framed in on the inside," he said. "It's not a functional door anymore."

Fancelli said he is trying to negotiate some sort of "amicable solution" with the city. One possibility he's proposed is to have the properties for Thelma project removed from the Lakeland Downtown Development Authority's taxing district, as Fancelli said the area doesn't receive many services from the LDDA, nor is it part of special events.

"I'd be paying a taxing authority and not getting any kind of service back," he said.

Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on X @SaraWalshFl.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland developer's Massachusetts Ave. plans include an ode to Thelma