OSCEOLA 360
An Investigative Look Inside Osceola County
A Special Report for The Sun Post News
By Marcos A. Tejeda
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
The Sun Post News
September 28, 2026
OSCEOLA COUNTY, Florida — For years, the former Publix building at 2925 International Drive has stood vacant on a strategically located piece of Osceola County-owned property near U.S. 192 and Celebration.
Now the building is headed for demolition.
Osceola County has approved an approximately $1.48 million demolition contract for the former supermarket, clearing a major obstacle to redevelopment of the 4.61-acre property.
But the demolition is only the latest chapter in a much longer story.
The County originally acquired the property with a very different public purpose in mind: a West Government Center and an operational facility for the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office.
That plan never materialized at the site.
A decade after the County acquired the property, officials are instead pursuing its redevelopment with Xentury City Development Co.
The transformation raises a fundamental public-accountability question:
How did a property acquired for government and public-safety purposes become a private redevelopment opportunity — and what will the final financial outcome be for Osceola County taxpayers?
A Nearly 50,000-Square-Foot Empty Supermarket
The former Publix building contains approximately 49,101 square feet and was built in 1996.
Publix operated at the location until 2012, when it opened another store nearby at Water Tower Shoppes in Celebration.
The property consists of approximately 4.61 acres near International Drive and U.S. 192, close to Celebration and Gaylord Palms.
This is not an isolated parcel in an economically inactive area.
It sits within one of western Osceola County’s most important tourism and commercial corridors.
That location makes the history of the property — and what happens next — particularly significant.
Osceola County Bought It for a Different Purpose
Osceola County acquired the former commercial property in 2016.
The government subsequently identified the site as the future home of a West Government Center and an operational center for the Sheriff’s Office.
The public-safety rationale was specific.
County officials said Sheriff’s Office operations serving western Osceola were working from part of a fire station on Pleasant Hill Road, while the western portion of the county generated a significant volume of service calls.
At one point, the County was even moving forward with the process of selecting an architect for the proposed facility.
The former Publix was therefore more than a piece of government-owned real estate.
It was connected to a stated public-safety need.
Yet the proposed Sheriff’s facility was never developed there.
A Decade Later, the Strategy Changed
By late 2025, Osceola County was seeking a developer to purchase and redevelop the approximately 4.61-acre site.
County procurement documents identified the property for Tourist Commercial use within a Planned Development zoning framework.
The objective had changed dramatically.
Instead of converting the former supermarket into a government facility, Osceola was now looking for a private development team capable of acquiring and transforming it.
In January 2026, the County authorized the County Manager to negotiate a sale with Xentury City Development Co.
The redevelopment concept presented for the property envisioned an experience-oriented commercial destination that could include dining and indoor and outdoor activities.
That could potentially return an underused property to productive economic activity.
But redevelopment does not erase the history of the public investment that preceded it.
Now Comes a $1.48 Million Demolition
The latest development came on September 28, 2026.
Osceola County has moved forward with an approximately $1.48 million contract to demolish the former Publix building, according to reporting by the Orlando Business Journal.
The demolition could finally clear the site for redevelopment.
It also creates another important financial question:
Who ultimately pays to prepare publicly owned property for private redevelopment?
If Osceola County spends approximately $1.48 million demolishing the building before the property is transferred to a developer, that expenditure should eventually be evaluated alongside the sale price and every other significant public cost associated with the property.
Without that complete accounting, taxpayers cannot determine the financial outcome of the transaction.
The Numbers Taxpayers Still Need
The $1.48 million demolition contract is only one number.
A complete evaluation requires several others.
How much did Osceola County originally pay for 2925 International Drive?
How much has the County spent maintaining, securing, studying or preparing the property since acquiring it in 2016?
Were architectural or engineering expenses incurred when the government facility was being considered?
What will the final demolition cost be?
And perhaps most importantly:
What will Xentury City Development ultimately pay for the property?
Those figures need to be placed side by side.
The financial result of a government real-estate transaction cannot be measured simply by its eventual sale price.
The original acquisition cost, carrying costs, professional services, demolition expenses and other public expenditures must also be considered.
Only then can taxpayers determine whether the transaction produced a net financial benefit or loss — or something in between.
What Happened to the Sheriff’s Facility?
There is another question that has nothing to do with real-estate values.
The former Publix was once presented as a solution to a public-safety need in western Osceola County.
If that need existed when the County acquired the property, what happened to it?
Was the Sheriff’s operational center eventually established somewhere else?
Did the Sheriff’s Office change its strategy?
Did population growth in western Osceola reduce the need for such a facility — or make it even greater?
And if another solution was implemented, how much did that alternative cost taxpayers?
Government priorities can legitimately change.
A building acquired for one purpose may eventually prove unsuitable, and selling an underused government asset can make financial sense.
But when the purpose changes, the public should be able to trace what happened to the original need that justified the acquisition.
Xentury City Is Part of a Much Larger Development Story
The proposed redevelopment also needs to be understood within the broader Xentury City development.
County records describe Xentury City as part of a Development of Regional Impact covering approximately 359.33 acres, originally approved in 1994 and modified over the years.
Existing development rights documented by Osceola County contemplate a project of substantial scale, including up to 5,050 hotel/timeshare units, 520 residential units, 429,077 square feet of retail and service uses, 42,000 square feet of attraction or recreational space and 1.25 million square feet of office development.
That makes the former Publix parcel one piece of a much larger development environment where tourism, housing, commercial activity and major private investment intersect.
Its location near Celebration, Gaylord Palms, U.S. 192 and International Drive adds to its potential commercial value.
Demolition Does Not Equal Development
Removing the old building will dramatically change the appearance of the property.
It does not guarantee that the proposed redevelopment will be built as originally envisioned.
Several steps remain important to watch.
The final real-estate transaction must be documented.
Development plans may require additional approvals.
Construction permits must be issued.
Financing must be secured.
Tenants or operators must eventually be identified.
And any public incentives or infrastructure commitments associated with the project should be disclosed.
An authorization to negotiate with a developer should not be confused with a completed redevelopment.
OSCEOLA 360 will follow the documents rather than the renderings.
What OSCEOLA 360 Will Investigate Next
The next phase of this investigation should establish eight critical facts:
1. The exact amount Osceola County paid for 2925 International Drive in 2016.
2. Total public expenditures associated with the property since its acquisition.
3. The company awarded the demolition contract and its exact value.
4. What services are included in the approximately $1.48 million demolition package.
5. Who assumes responsibility for cost overruns or environmental conditions discovered during demolition.
6. The final purchase price and contractual conditions negotiated with Xentury City Development.
7. Whether any incentives, reimbursements, infrastructure commitments or other public benefits are included in the redevelopment arrangement.
8. What ultimately happened to the West Government Center and Sheriff’s operational facility originally planned for the property.
Together, those records should answer the larger question:
After buying the property, holding it for roughly a decade and now spending nearly $1.5 million to demolish the building, what will Osceola County taxpayers ultimately receive in return?
OSCEOLA 360
An empty building can look like little more than an eyesore.
When that building belongs to the government, however, it is also a public asset.
And when the property was acquired for a public purpose that was never completed, its history deserves scrutiny before it disappears under demolition equipment.
The former Publix at 2925 International Drive has traveled an unusual path:
From supermarket.
To government property.
To proposed Sheriff’s facility.
To vacant building.
And now, potentially, to private commercial redevelopment.
The approximately $1.48 million demolition may prove to be a necessary investment to return a long-dormant property to productive use.
But the final judgment requires numbers that are still missing.
What did taxpayers pay?
What have they spent since?
What will the County receive from the sale?
And what public value will ultimately replace the government facility once planned for the site?
Those answers — not the demolition itself — will tell the complete story of 2925 International Drive.
