Council approves Lotus Wellington 2 amendment allowing Seasons 52, daycare expansion and public plaza

The Village of Wellington council voted 5-0 on March 10 to adopt Resolution R2026-07 amending the Lotus Wellington 2 master plan, a 52.44-acre mixed-use project on the west side of State Road 7. Staff entered the application into the record and the applicant presented revised plans that remove a proposed indoor/outdoor entertainment use, add an 8,500-square-foot freestanding restaurant parcel (identified in discussions as the likely Seasons 52 tenant), allow an 8,000-square-foot mixed-use restaurant/retail building and increase the daycare capacity from 210 to 230 students.

Applicant Brian Terry (Insight Studio) told council the revised design replaces parking in front of the building with an open plaza and lawn to create a community gathering space linked to the restaurant uses. "We're proposing an equal amount of courtyard plaza community gathering space...open to the public," Terry said. Nicole Fontaine of Colliers described leasing progress for adjacent Lotus Phase 1 tenants and confirmed ongoing interest from food and fast-casual operators.

Council members pressed the applicant on market certainty for entertainment users and whether Seasons 52 was a signed lease. Jim Gilda of the Lotus Group said a Seasons 52 lease is negotiated "and basically sitting on the shelf" pending approval; he said it is not yet signed. Council members sought additional guardrails to ensure the plaza is activated and to avoid creating a poorly used retail strip. The applicant offered to limit the mix of uses within the 8,000-square-foot building (for example, reserving roughly 5,000 sq ft for restaurant/entertainment use and capping retail at about 3,000 sq ft) or to proceed with a flexible 8,000-square-foot allocation that would return to council for specific use approval without repeating the full PZAB process.

Council ultimately adopted the applicant's compromise permitting the 8,000-square-foot building while requiring the developer to return to council for final approval of the tenant mix (skipping an extra PZAB step if council chooses). The increase to daycare capacity and the freestanding restaurant approval were also adopted. The motion passed 5-0.

The resolution preserves the entertainment-use option in the project's use table so the council can approve an entertainment tenant in the future if one becomes viable. Council members and staff noted the project's conditions and timing are tied to certificates of occupancy and phasing requirements already established in the project approvals.