DEBARY, Fla. — Debary city leaders broke ground Wednesday on the new Main Street project, a first-of-its-kind for the city.

The downtown project will bring together residential, commercial and mixed-use properties to DeBary, including shops, restaurants, and live-work units.

“It couldn’t be a more exciting day for us as a city. This vision has been in place for the now-city manager for 20 years and we, the council, have been working on it for the last five years and now the pieces are all together, and it begins to move forward,” DeBary’s City Mayor Karen Chasez said. “Things that seemed almost impossible have been done and it’s good for our entire city.”

With DeBary’s current population of 22,000 expected to grow to 30,000 residents, DeBary Main Street arrives as a timely addition for the city. The project will complement the growing community by providing essential amenities and fostering connections for all residents.

“Thank you so much for making a dream come true. May God bless this downtown DeBary. Bring it loving joy and prosperity for our residents, visitors and businesses forever,” DeBary’s City Manager Carmen Rosamonda said at the groundbreaking ceremony.

Debary’s Main Street will be walking distance from the SunRail station, along Shell Road. It will serve as the trail hub to 600 miles of biking trails to ensure residents have easy access to this downtown area.

“I’m really excited for all the residents because they have been chomping at the bit to have someplace to hang their hat, to gather, to socialize,” Rosamonda said.

DeBary’s Main Street development will unfold in two phases. Phase I will be developed by Falcone Group in the northern part of Main Street featuring 290 townhomes and 36 live-work units. Phase II will be led by a second developer, Mosaic Group, and will include retail spaces on the ground floor like restaurants, breweries and shops, and above those spaces they will build 407 apartments for rent.

“We have built from scratch this downtown to be the most unique, dynamic downtowns in all of Central Florida,” Rosamonda said.

After 24 years working towards the project, Rosamonda says the new downtown project will have a big economic impact on the area.

“The value of just this downtown area is $400 million. We believe over the next three to five years, this particular area is going to be almost $1 billion with the value and investment,” Rosamonda said.

Co-owner of Pepe’s Cantina, Franklin Chavez, says their business has been in DeBary for two years and they are excited to see a downtown coming to the city.

“This new development is going to be amazing and is going to be only better for the city: more customers, more attraction from different cities to DeBary. So, it’s only a win-win situation for everyone,” Chavez said.

They brought out a sample of what their restaurant offers to the event, and says he is thinking of expanding once the downtown is ready. “We’re looking forward to it. We have to talk to the planners and everything, make sure it makes sense for us, parking and all that. Definitely looking forward to it,” Chavez said.

Owners of Nonna Maria’s Pizzeria in DeBary, Kimberly and Marcelo Vivero, say they are excited to have built their business in this city from the ground up following their passion.

“He always worked for other business owners, and he builds up the business and then they sell it. And so, I said, you know what? I have customer service experience. You have restaurant experience. It’s time. It’s time to make a legacy for our family,” Kimberly said.

When the city told them about the Main Street project, she and her husband started to consider a possible future location here. “That’s something we have, you know, high hopes for. So, it’s definitely something that when they asked us, ‘Yes, we are very interested,’” Kimberly said.

City leaders say DeBary’s Main Street will be a pedestrian-friendly, walkable community and accessible by all means of transportation, including the SunRail just across the street from it.

Construction is set to begin later this year, with Phase I of Main Street expected to be completed by 2025.