
Once simply a wide unincorporated place divided by U.S. Highway 17-92 and known for its quietude, DeBary is now celebrating its 30th year as a city. The celebration includes preparing for a wholly new and more vibrant business district.
“It will go down as one of the greatest achievements in DeBary’s history,” City Manager Carmen Rosamonda told the audience.
In what may seem strange, the new business center will be well outside and away from the heart of the original settlement, and markedly separated from the DeBary Commons shopping center and other businesses around it.

THE MAN OF THE HOUR — After working for more than three years to bring DeBary’s Main Street to the starting point, City Manager Carmen Rosamonda anticipates the fulfillment of a dream. “It will truly be a living Main Street,” he said. “What’s next? Many people believe this celebration is the end, but it is just the beginning.”
Civic and business leaders and curious spectators gathered Jan. 24 for the ceremonial groundbreaking for Main Street DeBary.
The long-awaited start of the creation of a downtown — located a few miles south of DeBary’s first but limited commercial core — produced promises of high-quality development that will make DeBary a marketplace for its people’s needs and wants, and also a destination for visitors, including day-trippers who come by car, bus, bicycle or SunRail for a break in their routine.
The coming downtown will cover almost 20 acres, located a short walking distance north of DeBary’s SunRail depot. The building contractor is Mosaic Development LLC, a St. Petersburg, Florida, firm. Mosaic Development’s capital investment of perhaps as much as $70 million or more will bring, among other things, live-and-work units with some 37,500 square feet of retail-commercial space on the first floor and apartments on the second, third and fourth floors. In addition, there will be 7,000 square feet of management office space, a 9,000-square-foot community plaza and 5 acres for a central park suited for outdoor events such as concerts, art shows and farmers markets. That is Phase 1 of the Main Street project. Main Street’s first phase may be finished and ready to open for business as early as late in 2025, Rosamonda said.
EVENT — DeBary Parks and Recreation Manager Delaney Lehman welcomes those attending the groundbreaking for Main Street.
Phase 2 will bring 170 more apartments.