Marion County CRA to Discuss Future of County-Owned Silver Springs Manor and "Key West" Properties Oct. 20

Two county-owned properties on East Silver Springs Boulevard, just outside Silver Springs State Park, are on the agenda when the Marion County Community Redevelopment Agency meets Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, at 1:50 p.m. in the McPherson Governmental Campus Auditorium. The item is a discussion with no set outcome: staff ask the board to "provide discussion and direction" on whether the properties should be transferred to the CRA, whether the CRA should partner with the county to improve how they look, and whether part of one should be leased to the business next door.

The board has not acted yet. The item is the only scheduled business on the CRA's Oct. 20 agenda, item 2.1.

Digitally generated illustration of an old motel key. Not a photo of the Silver Springs properties.

The Two Properties

The agenda item from the county's Growth Services department identifies the sites by parcel number:

• Parcel 24006-000-00, 5550 E. Silver Springs Blvd. The agenda calls it the site of the former Silver Springs Manor Hotel. The Property Appraiser lists it as 0.37 acres owned by Marion County.


• Parcel 24153-000-00, 5401 E. Silver Springs Blvd. The agenda calls it the "Key West" building, just west of the Silver Springs State Park entrance. The Property Appraiser lists it as 1.50 acres owned by Marion County.

Earlier county records do not match the agenda's labels. The County Commission bought both parcels in 2024; the Property Appraiser shows the deeds to Marion County recorded in April and July 2024. The purchase agreement for parcel 24006-000-00 described a 0.37-acre lot with a 2,040-square-foot commercial building built in 1964, for $379,550. The agreement for parcel 24153-000-00 described a 1.50-acre lot with an 8,630-square-foot, 23-room motel built between 1948 and 1965, for $900,000. In December 2024 the CRA considered a grant toward demolishing the "Silver Springs Manor and RV Park" hotel buildings, and that item placed them at 5401 E. Silver Springs Blvd., parcel 24153-000-00. The Property Appraiser's permit history for that parcel shows an emergency demolition permit for the hotel, issued in February 2025 and completed in April 2025, and the 2026 record lists no buildings on it. The appraiser still lists the 1964 commercial building on parcel 24006-000-00. By those records, the former Silver Springs Manor hotel stood on parcel 24153-000-00, not on 24006-000-00 as the Oct. 20 agenda states. The parcel numbers are the clearest way to follow the discussion.

The Questions for the Board

The agenda item sets out three options for discussion:

• Transfer to the CRA: whether ownership of the two properties should move from the Board of County Commissioners to the Community Redevelopment Agency.


• CRA partnership: whether the CRA should work with the county to improve the sites' appearance, possibly by expanding grant opportunities so the work follows the CRA's design guidelines.


• A lease next door: the County Commission has already directed staff to explore leasing parcel 24006-000-00 to the owner of the neighboring Event Warehouse / Silver Springs Vintage Market for extra parking. The agenda says the owner has also asked about adding cross access between the properties and holding special events on the county's parcel.

Staff list no budget impact for the discussion itself.

The Event Warehouse Next Door

The Event Warehouse has been before the CRA before. In June 2026 the CRA approved a facade and building improvement grant and a sign grant for The Event Warehouse, LLC, owner Pam Thompson, at 5631 E. Silver Springs Blvd. (the Oct. 20 agenda lists the business at 5361). That item said the building's tenant was preparing to relocate and the owner wanted to renovate it for a new tenant. A change to that grant was on the CRA's Sept. 1 agenda. Earlier, in 2021 and 2022, county agendas carried items connecting the building from septic to county sewer.

Why It Matters

East Silver Springs Boulevard is the main road to Silver Springs State Park, and the county's CRA grant programs are meant to encourage owners to redevelop properties along it, according to the agency's grant items. A transfer to the CRA would put the properties under the agency that runs the corridor's grant programs. A parking lease would give the neighboring business more room for customers and events. Neither question will be settled until the board gives direction.

Other business on the corridor includes a planned Crunch Fitness club; see Crunch Fitness coming to East Silver Springs Boulevard. For visiting the area, see things to do in Silver Springs and our Ocala to Silver Springs guide. The County Commission's own Oct. 20 meeting is covered in our commission preview, and more on local government is in our Marion County government guide.

Sources: Marion County Legistar file 2026-24754 (CRA agenda item 2.1, Oct. 20, 2026) and its location maps; County Commission purchase agreement items for parcels 24006-000-00 (March 5, 2024) and 24153-000-00 (May 7, 2024); CRA grant items SS-FBIG-2024-01 (Dec. 17, 2024), SS-FBIG-2026-01 (June 16, 2026) and its modification (Sept. 1, 2026); County Commission septic-to-sewer items for The Event Warehouse (2021-2022); Marion County Property Appraiser records for both parcels. Checked Oct. 18, 2026.