Kissimmee's updated Vine Street redevelopment plan lists 47 actions for U.S. 192 through 2042. The City Commission holds a public hearing on it Nov. 17.
Kissimmee has a new long-range plan for Vine Street, and the City Commission will hold a public hearing on it Tuesday, Nov. 17. The plan sets out 47 actions for the U.S. 192 corridor through 2042. Housing was the goal residents voted for most.
The hearing starts at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 101 Church St., according to the city’s public notice. Commissioners will vote on a resolution adopting the update right after the hearing. The resolution also reaffirms the city’s finding that blighted areas exist, under Section 163.355 of Florida law.
The city has posted the 202-page proposed 2026 Vine Street CRA Plan, dated July 29, on its Vine Street CRA page. It replaces the plan written when the district was created in 2012.
What the Vine Street CRA is
A community redevelopment agency, or CRA, keeps the growth in property tax from a set area and spends it only inside that area. The five members of the City Commission sit as its board.
The plan describes the district this way:
- about 5 miles of Vine Street, from North Bass Road to Denn John Lane
- 1,333 acres, reaching north to Columbia Avenue and south to Oak Street
- 4,968 residents, against 84,023 citywide
- 8,574 jobs and 1,273 businesses, or 31% of the city’s businesses
The median household income in the district is about $42,396, the plan says, below the city’s $46,330. Both are 2024 estimates.
How much money is involved
In 2024 the district’s taxable value was about $712.4 million, and it paid about $3,044,800 into the CRA’s trust fund, the plan says. The city pays in 95% of its share of the growth and Osceola County pays 70%.
The plan projects $96.2 million to $111.6 million in revenue from 2025 through 2042, when the district is set to end. Its middle estimate is $101.1 million, rising from about $3.3 million in 2025 to about $8.1 million in 2042.
What the plan would do
The plan groups its 47 actions under six goals. Among those marked high priority for 2026 to 2031:
- buy or help assemble land for redevelopment, and keep a public list of available sites
- support the overhaul of aging shopping plazas and hotel properties
- redesign Columbia Avenue, Oak Street, Dyer Boulevard and Thacker Avenue
- strengthen code enforcement and improve the look of properties
- form a Vine Street business committee
- encourage infill, “missing middle” and affordable housing
It also sets out a vision for six sub-areas along the road. The former Kmart site, which the CRA bought, would become a mixed-use area with homes, shops and public space. Dyer Boulevard, next to Kissimmee Gateway Airport, would become a gateway for airport visitors. The eastern end near Valencia College would be pitched as an education and technology hub, linked to the NeoCity campus.
What residents asked for
The plan lists the challenges it heard most often: traffic, the shortage of affordable housing, the unhoused population and problems at some U.S. 192 hotels. It says those hotels face “recurring challenges” with security and code enforcement, and that some are used as temporary housing because shelter is scarce.
The plan proposes an unhoused population reduction plan and a task force that would bring together city departments, police, nonprofits, health care providers and businesses.
People at two events voted on which goal the CRA should work on first. Housing came top with 35 votes, the plan says. The events were the June 14, 2025, Juneteenth Festival and a Sept. 24, 2025, community meeting.
Already underway
The plan lists what the district has done since 2012. One project is Haven on Vine, the former Super 8 motel on West Vine Street that the city began turning into housing in June 2023. When finished it will have 83 affordable units and 40 emergency and bridge housing units, the city’s Haven on Vine page says.
On Nov. 3, commissioners approved three more items for Haven on Vine, according to the meeting agenda packet and the action summary:
- a contract with Abe’s Electric of up to $718,529.38, paid with federal block grant money, to rewire all 10 buildings and give each unit its own meter
- moving leftover federal pandemic relief money to the property for a larger water main for fire protection and other building work, which must be spent by Dec. 31
- an agreement for a planned 88-unit development, Sandhill Villas, to set aside nine units for households referred by Haven on Vine, if the developer wins state funding
What it means for you
Nothing changes on Vine Street right away. The plan guides how the CRA spends its money, and each project still needs its own vote, budget and, for building work, permits.
If you live, work or own a business along U.S. 192, the Nov. 17 hearing is the time to speak. The proposed resolution can be inspected at the City Clerk’s office at City Hall, the notice says. The CRA office is at cra@kissimmee.gov or 407-518-2544.
Our Vine Street neighborhood guide covers homes, schools and parks in the area. The Columbia Avenue redesign is already in study; read about the $1.7 million study approved Nov. 3. For commission contacts, see our guide to who to call at City Hall.
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