{"id":68414,"date":"2026-06-01T13:04:50","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T17:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=68414"},"modified":"2026-06-01T13:04:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T17:04:59","slug":"one-of-downtown-lakelands-most-stubborn-eyesores-is-finally-getting-a-second-chance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/06\/01\/one-of-downtown-lakelands-most-stubborn-eyesores-is-finally-getting-a-second-chance\/","title":{"rendered":"One of downtown Lakeland’s most stubborn eyesores is finally getting a second chance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The historic Hartsell-Lohr Building<\/strong> (located at 106-114 E. Main St.) has sat vacant and neglected for well over a decade.<\/sup> 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<\/strong>, eventually clearing that massive $216,000 mark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local investor Alejandro Millan stepped in to buy the property, effectively saving the landmark from legal limbo.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The New Vision<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • A Ground-Floor Food Hall:<\/strong> Turning the hollowed-out lower level into a vibrant, multi-vendor culinary space.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • A Retail Hub:<\/strong> Re-establishing active storefronts for local boutique shopping.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • A Boutique Hotel:<\/strong> Utilizing the upper level for specialized boutique lodging, filling a high-demand niche for overnight stays right in the core of downtown.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Looking Back: The Building’s 1920s Heyday<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    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:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • The Hub:<\/strong> The building housed a White Bus Line terminal, a Singer Sewing Machine store, and Liggett\u2019s Drug Store.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • The Nightlife:<\/strong> Upstairs was home to the Don Quixote Spanish Restaurant<\/strong>, which later expanded into the Rainbow Room<\/strong>\u2014complete with a nightly live orchestra where locals gathered to dine and dance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      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… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68415,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDZcL1NjcmVlbnNob3QtMjAyNi0wNi0wMVQxMzAxNDguMzg0LndlYnA_Zml0PTY0NSUyQzI3MiZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6Ik9uZSBvZiBkb3dudG93biBMYWtlbGFuZCYjODIxNztzIG1vc3Qgc3R1YmJvcm4gZXllc29yZXMgaXMgZmluYWxseSBnZXR0aW5nIGEgc2Vjb25kIGNoYW5jZSIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiZG9pcyIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.A17ulXBhF1KbMm8oa3muA6mXrDp4txpN0hX6laltteYMQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzA2XC9TY3JlZW5zaG90LTIwMjYtMDYtMDFUMTMwMTQ4LjM4NC53ZWJwIiwidHh0IjoiT25lIG9mIGRvd250b3duIExha2VsYW5kJ3MgbW9zdCBzdHViYm9ybiBleWVzb3JlcyBpcyBmaW5hbGx5IGdldHRpbmcgYSBzZWNvbmQgY2hhbmNlIiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJkb2lzIiwiZm9udCI6IiIsImJsb2dfaWQiOjE2MzA0MDY2MX0.GmY4uHpbZEaPVgCt3Trt-YicXuRys5shSOYPv8lsmucMQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[12,14],"tags":[14746],"class_list":["post-68414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","category-news","tag-one-of-downtown-lakelands-most-stubborn-eyesores-is-finally-getting-a-second-chance"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68414"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68417,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68414\/revisions\/68417"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}