By Randy Vuxta
Sanford History is now available.
A major part of Sanford history has become available for purchase once again.
The PICO (Plant Investment Company) Building was built in 1887 by Henry B. Plant in Sanford’s infancy to serve guests traveling to Sanford by railroad and steamship lines. Plant wanted to bring business to the area by setting up transportation and housing for the agricultural and developmental businesses throughout the 1880s. The first restaurant in Sanford was in the PICO Building.
The PICO Building was originally used as a hotel, earning it its second name the PICO Hotel, and would serve as the inspiration for Plant’s other hotel, the Tampa Bay Hotel. The building has also been added to the National Register of Historic Places, but has seen some work from its original design.
The PICO Hotel was originally designed with Moorish influence and designed to resemble a Turkish Palace, specifically noting the Onion Dome at the top. The dome was destroyed in the late-1950s and was replaced with a simple pyramid roof. The hotel still features cast iron horseshoe-arch window design from its original development.
The building was remodeled in 1906 after it was sold to the Takach family, who had been running the restaurant since its conception with the Plant Investment Company. Some famous visitors include Thomas Edison, President Ulysses S. Grant and Calvin Coolidge.
The PICO Hotel was a hotel until after World War II, with a fully functional bar taking over the first floor. The space was used as a stopover for troops enroute to Cuba during the Spanish-American War and was used by the Red Cross, political headquarters and even as a theater.
In 1957, A. B. Peterson Jr. purchased the PICO Building, but left it in a terrible state after shutting the bar down and rumors of the site being condemned and torn down.
This inspired Tommy Peterson, a real estate agent, to renovate the property, mainly turning the upstairs area into office space.
Those office spaces would be transformed into the law offices of Mack Cleveland, who would go on to be a state senator, and Vernon Mize Jr. With City Commissioner Jack Bridges, Bridges and Cleveland would purchase the building and stay as owners to this day.
Today the building is sitting empty over on Oak just waiting for someone to be able to start restorations.
The property is currently listed at 2 Million and will be seen as a potential investment opportunity in downtown Sanford.
Matt White, the listing agent for the property, said that he can see this as an opportunity for someone to bring the iconic past to be a part of Sanford’s future.
“It needs a little TLC, but that investment can end up being worthwhile,” White said.
The current floorplans have the second story available for residential space as a form of apartments, which allows for the downstairs to be a bar or maybe even a restaurant. White has come up with several prospective designs, including the idea for a new Jazz bar to add to Sanford’s growing nightlife scene.
White even said that he has a few prospective buyers lined up to take a look at the PICO building, so it is more of a matter of when not if that one of Sanford’s key historical buildings is sold once again.
The current owner is Bat Development LLC who purchased the property in 2012 and continues to own it to this day.
Some specs on the building that you might want to include are the brick is 18 inches thick of real set brick and mortar and the steel used as a formation tool is still attached to the side.
