The historic Hartsell-Lohr Building (located at 106-114 E. Main St.) has sat vacant and neglected for well over a decade. The city actually filed a foreclosure lawsuit against the previous owners, the Lohr family, because code enforcement violations had been racking up at $50 a day since 2019, eventually clearing that massive $216,000 mark.
Local investor Alejandro Millan stepped in to buy the property, effectively saving the landmark from legal limbo.
The New Vision
Millan’s acquisition breathes new life into the stretch of East Main Street just steps from Munn Park. The early plans to transform the multi-storefront space include:
- A Ground-Floor Food Hall: Turning the hollowed-out lower level into a vibrant, multi-vendor culinary space.
- A Retail Hub: Re-establishing active storefronts for local boutique shopping.
- A Boutique Hotel: Utilizing the upper level for specialized boutique lodging, filling a high-demand niche for overnight stays right in the core of downtown.
Looking Back: The Building’s 1920s Heyday
It’s hard to imagine looking at it now, but a century ago, this building was a bustling center of Lakeland’s daily commerce and nightlife:
- The Hub: The building housed a White Bus Line terminal, a Singer Sewing Machine store, and Liggett’s Drug Store.
- The Nightlife: Upstairs was home to the Don Quixote Spanish Restaurant, which later expanded into the Rainbow Room—complete with a nightly live orchestra where locals gathered to dine and dance.
With Millan taking the reins, this project joins other major historic preservation efforts downtown (like the ongoing work around the old Montgomery Ward building on Kentucky Ave), signaling a major wave of revitalization for Lakeland’s historic core.