The City of Lakeland’s CRA is on the hunt for the next tenant.
Entertainment, food, and drink, or something else — tell us your thoughts on what should take over this space downtown.
The Yard on Mass vacated its space off North Massachusetts Avenue near Talbot House and Haus 820 at the beginning of July. Now, the Lakeland Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) is looking for the next best thing,
The CRA accepted proposals for the space from July 1 to Aug. 15. What could you picture taking over this space?
Despite lots of interest in the space formerly occupied by The Yard on Mass, only two entrepreneurs completed the lengthy application to take over the building at 802 N. Massachusetts Ave and neither proposal was deemed a perfect fit.
The Yard on Mass was a live music venue, beer garden, and food truck park. It opened in 2019 to much fanfare but announced in May that it was closing its doors because it wasn’t making a profit.
A selection committee met Wednesday to consider two visions for what could come next:
A private jazz and supper club proposed by Denise Gilmore, owner of Mary’s Bagel Cafe.
The Enchanted Fairytale Hollow is an event space for things like princess makeovers; tea parties; art parties; festivals themed on fairies, mermaids, and unicorns; and trick or treating.
Committee members called the proposals “very creative,” but ultimately they recommended that the Community Redevelopment Agency advertise the property again.
Essentially, this means that the Selection Committee felt that the CRA should go back to the drawing board and consider more proposals. Before that can happen, the recommendation will need to be formally presented to the CRA’s Advisory Board, followed by the Lakeland City Commission.
The extensive outdoor space on the Yard on Mass property is the real star of the show.
The former site encompasses 10,800 sqft. This includes a 2,522 sqft building with an indoor bar area and a small amount of indoor seating, along with an additional 8,278 sqft of yard with open-air space, covered cabanas, a large porch, and several parking spots originally designed for food trucks. There are 66 parking spaces available for patrons along North Massachusetts and Kentucky Avenues.