Transportation planners have always envisioned the SunRail station in DeBary as a magnet for economic development, much the way other depots along the train’s route through Seminole and Orange counties have attracted billions of dollars in new projects.
Unfortunately, it could use some juice. A year after the commuter rail service began in the rural West Volusia town, the area surrounding the station remains more cow pasture than commercial. That’s cause for patience, not concern.
Clearly, though, the station, and the community, would benefit from having something there.
As detailed by The News-Journal’s Mark Harper, more than $3 billion worth of projects, such as townhomes, luxury apartments, offices and retail, have been completed, are underway or have been announced within a 10-minute walk of SunRail’s existing train stations. The rail service and the Florida Department of Transportation estimate those developments will generate more than 32,000 jobs.