A trio of new hotels all within walking distance to Sea World will add another 782 rooms to the I-Drive corridor.
SeaWorld Orlando filed plans this week to build a new 504-key hotel on roughly 30 acres of property currently owned by the theme park at the corner of I-Drive and Central Florida Parkway.
Sea World Entertainment CEO Marc Swanson told investors during the company’s third quarter earnings call that more details regarding the new hotels would be released soon.
“We continue to make progress on our strategic growth initiatives related to hotels, international expansion and our digital activities,” he said. “We have also made meaningful incremental investments across our parks this year that we expect to fully benefit from in the coming quarters. We look forward to sharing more on these exciting and value creating initatives and investments in the coming quarters in 2024.”
One such investment is the Penguin Trek family launch coaster at SeaWorld Orlando. The company also operates theme parks in San Diego, Tampa, Williamsburg and San Antonio and welcomed 7.1 million visitors across all properties over the first nine months of 2023.
Earlier this month, Ohio-basedKey Hotel & Property Managementalso sought to reactivate stalled plans for a pair of extended-stay hotels just across the street on land the company purchased in 2019.
fThe development plan calls for two 6-story Hilton Home2 Suites hotels, each with 139 rooms, a pool and surface parking. (Elevation by Base 4 Architecture)Key affiliate Ultra LLC bought the two parcels at 11080 International Dr. for $3.5 million with entitlements for the two 6-story hotels, but the permits expired. On Dec. 4, the same developer refiled the Development Plan with Orange County for the two Hilton Home2 Suites hotels, each with 139 rooms, surface parking and outdoor pools.
Home2 Suites guest suites feature separate sleeping and living areas, with a kitchenette equipped with full-sized appliances. Induction burner cooktops are available upon request at no extra cost. The hotel includes a 24-hour fitness center and a saltwater pool among other amenities.
https://p4xcc4.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/hall3logo-300x78.png00halldsihttps://p4xcc4.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/hall3logo-300x78.pnghalldsi2023-12-13 11:28:502023-12-13 11:28:50Two new Hotels near Seaworld; December 13, 2023
Pulte Group has officially put down roots on more than 400 acres of pastoral land in Northeast Orange County where it will soon begin construction on Orlando’s first Agrihood community.
The homebuilder paid $10 million on Thursday for what would be the first phase of a long-awaited, unique project called The Grow.
The first phase will consist of 504 lots across a mix of housing types along with a nine-acre working farm, two barns, farm stand and restaurant/welcome center.
Upon completion by Pulte, The Grow will stretch across a total of 1,185 acres between Lake Pickett Road and State Road 50 with 2,078 residential lots and more than 165,000 square feet of commercial space. The working farm will serve as the community’s centerpiece.
In addition to a mix of attached and detached single-family homes, the project calls for 21 acres of community gardens, a 20-acre community park, 12 miles of recreational trails, an equestrian facility, edible landscaping, a street for farmers’ markets, and a farm-to-table restaurant, among other agricultural amenities.
Pulte’s acquisition covers 407 acres in total on the southern portion of the site.
Saathoff told GrowthSpotter the closing clears the way for the construction of 76 townhome units and 428 detached homes. Five of the homes will sit on lots as large as half an acre.
Construction of the first phase, which will also include the first of two large pool and cabana facilities, is expected to begin in late January, Saathoff said.
“This is a very unique project and we have labored over the design details extensively,” he said. “The team is very talented so we are really excited to actually see the translation of the drawings as built out in the field.”
While he has clearance from Orange County to build out some of the project, including the entire southern phase, other aspects are still awaiting a final OK.
For example, Saathoff and his team submitted an application to the county on Sept. 28 related to the internal farm and associated structures.
Saathoff said Pulte will be closing on an additional 395 approved lots in January.
In an earlier interview, Max Perlman, the VP of Land Acquisition for the Pulte’s Central Florida division, told GrowthSpotter his team is “grateful” to be a part of The Grow project.
GrowthSpotter previously reported that the project will have a mix of architectural styles and product types with lots ranging in size from 32 feet to one-acre.
Townhomes are planned to be between 1,600 and 1,900 square feet with 3-4 bedrooms while detached homes will range in size from 1,600 to over 5,000 square feet.
Jim Hall with HallDSI are the community planners for the subdivision plans. VHB serves as the civil engineer on the project. Bio-Tech Consulting Inc. is handling environmental affairs and Allen & Company is the surveyor.
The project team also includes Longwood-based landscape architect Dix.Hite+Partners.
The Urban Land Institute defines Agrihoods as “single-family, multifamily, or mixed-use communities built with a working farm or community garden as a focus.
ULI estimates that there are more than 200 agrihoods across the United States, spanning at least 30 states, from rural communities to major cities.
https://p4xcc4.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/hall3logo-300x78.png00halldsihttps://p4xcc4.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/hall3logo-300x78.pnghalldsi2023-12-05 12:29:052023-12-05 12:29:05The Grow moves forward; December 5, 2023
Mixed-income project planned near Apopka promises to designate 20 percent of units as affordable
After acquiring 40 acres near Apoka, an Orlando-based construction and land development company is planning to bring a mixed-income project to this segment of Northwest Orange County with townhomes, market-rate apartments, and affordable housing units. Go Construction Services, using an entity titled Cascades At Marden Holdings LLC, purchased the property near the southeast interchange of Ocoee Apopka Road and SR 451 in late August of 2022 for $1.9 million, according to deed records.
The company is behind plans initially submitted to the county last summer that calls for a total of 576 dwelling units. The proposal includes 214 attached single-family homes and 362 apartments. Of the apartment units, 20%, or 72, would be designated as affordable, according to site plans by Jim Hall of Hall Development Services (HDSi). Site plans show seven apartment buildings on the interior of the property along with a clubhouse and pool area. Thirty-four townhome buildings surround the apartments, site plans show. It’s unclear if townhome residents would have also access to the pool. A section of property on the southeast corner of the site is reserved for a recreational area, according to site plans. Apartment units would cover a minimum of 500 square feet while townhome units would cover a minimum of 800 square feet. For the project, the applicant is seeking six waivers from Orange County, with most related to building height and the amount of separation between the multifamily project and single-family zoned properties next door.
Go Construction’s proposed mix of market-rate and affordable housing within the same community is a product that Orange County planners are pushing for more of. Alberto Vargas, the county’s planning director, told GrowthSpotter recently that the county anticipates having submittals for 80,300 new multifamily units by 2030. Of that number, the county’s goal is for 30% of those units to be designated as affordable. Around the time that this mixed-income project was submitted, Vargas said that developers of projects that introduce a mixed-income program could see incentives such as an expedited review process, a reduction in impact fees, and other financial incentives. Vargas said mixed-income communities should be designed in a way where the affordable units are indistinguishable from market-rate units by either appearance or amenities.
“The residential units shall be dispersed at all affordability levels throughout the development, neighborhood, or community with a continuum of income levels rather than a demarked division between market rate and low-income residents. New mixed-income neighborhoods should fit seamlessly into the surrounding community.”
Vargas said the county is working to move away from stand-alone affordable housing communities.
The Live Local Act, which was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on March 29 and became effective July 1, requires a county to approve a multifamily development project in an area already zoned for commercial, industrial, or mixed-use if at least 40% of the units are defined as affordable under the state’s guidelines.
In addition to speeding up the approval process, the new rule gives developers more flexibility with density and allows them to build the project as high as the tallest building within a mile of the property, regardless of the county’s current regulations.
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Development Ventures Group (DEVEN) has taken a critical step forward on a $400 million plan to bring Fairmont’s luxury hotel product to the heart of Orlando’s tourism district. The company, which has offices in New York and Orlando, secured 28 acres off International Drive on Wednesday for $16 million, according to Orange County deed records. DEVEN announced its intentions to deliver Orlando its first luxury Fairmont flag in 2021. According to the developer’s website, the seven-story hotel is expected to open in early 2025 with 550 guestrooms, including 90 suites, 12 unique villas, and 87 Fairmont Gold rooms.
Phone calls and emails to the company seeking comment were not returned as of Wednesday afternoon.
The brand’s signature Fairmont Gold experience “will be offered on the top floor and includes an expansive 5,000-square-foot private lounge with sweeping views of the city offering luxury guests an unparalleled experience in Orlando,” the website says.
The hotel will also offer several of the brand’s “elevated dining experiences” with numerous restaurant options.
“Innovative cuisine and beverage programs are essential components of the Fairmont brand, and Fairmont Orlando will offer visitors several elevated dining experiences,” the website says. “Featuring seven distinct food and beverage concepts, the hotel will boast a 140-seat signature restaurant, a specialty Mediterranean restaurant, an upscale steakhouse, a gourmet café, and various bars and lounges offering both indoor and outdoor seating.”
Additional property features will include a 12,000-square-foot spa and wellness center with seven treatment rooms, a gym and two hot tubs. It will also offer 44,000 square feet of expansive meetings and events space.
The property’s outdoor amenities include three swimming pools: a family pool, a lazy river, and an adults-only pool.
The hotel will also feature a children and young adult center, a library, and business center, as well as ample retail space, according to the website.
Atlanta-based architecture firm,Smallwood Architects, will lead the hotel’s architectural design. Hotel interiors are being designed by SFA Design and Toronto-based Studio Paolo Ferrari is designing all of the restaurants. Entitlements were handled by the PE Group and Jim Hall at HDSi.
Before the acquisition by Development Ventures Group, the property was owned by Gcb Associates, led by Chris Liew.
https://p4xcc4.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/hall3logo-300x78.png00halldsihttps://p4xcc4.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/hall3logo-300x78.pnghalldsi2023-05-04 10:04:242023-05-04 10:04:24Another hotel project moves forward; May 4, 2023
When Kevin Skorman first rolled out plans to put a 36-story, 1,000-room hotel with a rooftop restaurant near the Orange County convention center, the developer already had a lot of reasons to be excited about the project given its proximity to theme parks and its size —it would be among the tallest buildings in the Orlando area. But now, six years later, Skorman is even more hyped considering what’s in the pipeline from Universal Studios and a Miami-based private rail line.
Since Skorman Development acquiredthe six-acre property on Westwood Boulevard in 2017, Universal has unveiled a billion-dollar plan to build its third theme park called Epic Universe within walking distance. Brightlineis bringing its high-speed train service from South Florida to the Orlando International Airport by this summer. It plans to take riders from the airport to Tampa by 2030, with a proposed stop at the doorstepof Skorman’s future highrise hotel.
Earlier this year, Universal created an entity that would help finance an 11-mile leg of that route from the airport to the convention center. The new Universal theme park and the future Brightline expansion are expected to give Orlando’s already booming tourism industry an added boost. And Skorman feels like he’s right dab in the middle of “the perfect storm with the perfect project,” he said.
According to a January report by the World Travel and Tourism Council, Orlando was the largest U.S. city tourism destination in 2022 with an economic contribution of over $31 billion, recovering above 2019 levels by $2.7 billion. “The new Brightline expansion from the airport to Miami will now draw from South Florida’s millions of residents and annual visitors,” Skorman added in an email. “We anticipate hotel demand accelerating and the desire for new options, alongside the anticipated increase in conferences at the Orange County Convention Center, will make this hotel site uniquely situated to fill a market need.” Skorman is expected in the coming weeks or months to announce which flag will appear on the hotel. There’s a lot of competition, he noted. “I’ve had more excitement in the last two weeks on this project than I have in the last six years,” Skorman said. “Brightline and Epic Universe is huge for this project. Huge.”
The project, approved by Orange County in early 2022, consists of a 36-story, 996,000-square-foot hotel attached to a six-story parking garage with 1,000 spaces. Designed by Atlanta-based architecture firm Smallwood plans call for 30,000 square feet of meeting space on the fifth floor and 70,000 square feet of meeting space on the seventh floor. A fitness center will cover 4,000 square feet on the fourth floor while 5,000 square feet on the ground floor would be reserved for retail space. Jim Hall of HDSi led the project which included Kimley Horn as civils and Libra Design Group as LAs.
Plans call for three restaurants — one of 36,000 square feet on the ground floor, one of 900 square feet on the eighth floor, and another totaling 19,000 square feet at the very top of the hotel on the 36th floor. “The 360-degree view of all theme park fireworks every night from the restaurant planned for the 36th floor is spectacular,” Skorman said. “This will be the best location in Central Florida for taking full advantage of the firework displays. Not even the Orlando Wheel can compete with the type of view that our customers would get to enjoy.” Skorman said he expects to project to break ground in 2024.
The hotel is set to go up between Westwood Boulevard and S.R. 428, near I-Drive and across the street from Sea World. SeaWorld hit revenue, net income and adjusted earnings records in its 2022 fiscal year. Its newest attraction, Pipeline: The Surf Coaster, is set to open later this spring. The ride simulates the experience of surfing by putting riders in a standing position and sending them through curves and a “‘wave curl inversion” at a top speed of 60 mph.
Meanwhile, Orange County is moving forward on a $700 million effort to add another 1 million square feet to its convention center. The space currently covers 7 million square feet overall and has 2 million square feet of exhibition space.
Epic Universe is on track to open in summer of 2025 on 750 acres and will have its own hotels onsite and adjacent to the park. Those include the 500-room Grand Helios hotel at the back of the park and a pair of sister resort hotels, the Stella Nova and Terra Luna, each with 750 rooms.
https://p4xcc4.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/hall3logo-300x78.png00halldsihttps://p4xcc4.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/hall3logo-300x78.pnghalldsi2023-04-25 11:07:112023-04-25 11:07:11Convention Hotel Moving Forward; April 25, 2023
Hickory Grove would add nearly 1,200 more homes and jobs to Wellness Way area
By Yvette C. Hammett
Growthspotter
Feb 15, 2023 at 5:11 pm
The owners of 406 acres in the Wellness Way area have filed plans for a master-planned community that could add another 1,176 new homes to the fast-growing region.
Landowner Hickory Groves, LLC, based in New York City, is seeking to change the future land use from Agricultural to Multi-Use District and Neighborhood District and rezone to Planned Unit Development. The updated Hickory Grove PUD is in Lake County staff hands and could be set for hearings as soon as March.
The owners engaged Jim Hall with HDSi Planning & Design Studio to lead the project through the zoning and entitlements. Hall told GrowthSpotter there is no developer attached to the project, but once the owners get all of the approvals, the project will be marketed for sale.
Hickory Grove is north of Schofield Road and just west of the Orange County line and the future Valencia College Horizon West campus. It’s just south of the Chicone PUD, where Pulte Homes will build close to 1,000 homes and 75,000 square feet of commercial.
“Because it is in Wellness Way, that area has its own set of rules, different from the rest of the county,” Hall said. “You have to submit three zoning submittals and we have now done that. This is called the final PUD and we are expecting county staff comments Feb. 23.”
Once Hickory Groves receives those comments and addresses any questions, county hearings will be set, he said.
Road work and utility work are key in this region that was formerly rolling hills covered in orange groves that have died or are dying, said veteran real estate developer Jim Karr, who was instrumental in designing the Wellness Way Area Plan. Karr is a major landowner throughout Central Florida.
Karr, with Land Plus, sold over 1,500 acres in Wellness Way to Lennar and GT Homes and continues to be involved in negotiating utilities for the area, as well keeping a close eye on road work in the region. HDSi did the planning and design for Karr’s community as well.
“Generally speaking, everything is going fine in Wellness Way,” he said. “Unfortunately, when you do a planning initiative like this, not everything happens all at once and people are impatient because they don’t see all the parts coming forward.” But those parts are coming, he said.
Hall said he is currently in negotiations with Sunshine Water for construction of a water and sewer plant to serve Hickory Grove. He said Sunshine would eventually own the plant.
“We also have dedicated land for CR 455. The (Central Florida) Expressway Authority is building S.R. 516 (Lake/Orange Expressway) that goes from S.R. 429 to U.S. 27, and there is one interchange between them to the south of Hickory Grove. County Road 455 will be the road that gets you to the interchange. We are providing that connection.”
He said C.R. 455 will be built in stages, eventually connecting S.R. 50 to the S.R. 516 interchange.
The Wellness Way Area Plan covers about 16,000 acres between U.S. 27 and State Road 429, west of the Lake County/Orange County boundary line with McKinney Road running east/west through the middle of the property.
About half of it will be connected to the City of Clermont utilities and annexed into Clermont, Hall said. Half will remain in unincorporated Lake County and will be served by Sunshine Water.
Hickory Grove spans 398 net developable acres, which will be accessed via Schofield Road. The PUD calls for 190.2 acres in the Multi-Use District and 207.9 acres in the Neighborhood District, with up to 1,176 residential units, including single-family homes, townhomes and apartments.
Single family homes would have a minimum of 1,500 square feet of living area and rear-loaded townhomes would have a minimum of 1,000 square feet of living space. Multifamily units would have a minimum living area of 600 square feet, as would build-to-rent units.
The PUD also designates 48.4 acres for non-residential use on Schofield at the Five Mile Road and C.R. 455 intersections. These commercial centers will include a “full mixture of uses — office and employment with some commercial,” Hall said.
The town center would allow all C-3 permitted and accessory uses, industrial uses, professional office uses and apartments and townhomes, according to the site plan. It’s projected to create 1,054 new jobs.
There are no phases proposed for Hickory Grove and how it proceeds will be up to the future owner or developer, Hall said.
He said getting to this phase of submitting the final PUD has been a long process, but it has gone well.
“I wrote the first rendition of Wellness Way and Lake County Commissioner Sean Parks, it is his district, and he has been very involved in it,” Hall said.
When Horizon West first took off, he said, Lake County “had no plans to do anything” in that area. Parks helped turn that around, he said.
https://p4xcc4.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/hall3logo-300x78.png00halldsihttps://p4xcc4.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/hall3logo-300x78.pnghalldsi2023-02-16 10:26:402023-02-16 10:26:40Hickory Grove is moving forward; February 16, 2023
New residential development activity is erupting along a two-lane road in East Orlando, a short drive from the University of Central Florida and two master-planned communities.
Hancock Lone Palm Road, off the south side of Colonial Drive just east of S.R. 408, has at least 268 single-family housing units in the pipeline across several projects led by different developers.
Atlanta-based Pulte Homes, Los Angeles-based KB Home, and Maitland-based CFB Homes have all recently established a presence on the corridor. And several national homebuilders have expressed interest in taking on plans for a 100-unit townhome community here — so long as a land developer agrees to improve road infrastructure to accommodate the extra traffic.
This street — near Waterford Lakes and Avalon Park — could be home to even more growth if the owners of a large piece of property were willing to sell.
Max Perlman, the vice president of land acquisition with Pulte Homes, told GrowthSpotter that he’s spoken to Ritchie and Linda Parker about acquiring their 15-acre piece of farmland.
“That family is just keeping the land,” he said. “We talked to them, and they weren’t ready to sell.”
Pulte, the nation’s third-largest homebuilder, bought 21 acres to the south of the Parker property in 2021 for $2.36 million. It’s building a 56-home subdivision here called Savannah Palms with lots as large as 70 feet.
Across the street from the Pulte site, KB Home is building a 37-lot residential community on the east side of Hancock Lone Palm Road called Lone Palm.
KB Home, the nation’s sixth-largest homebuilder, bought the nine-acre parcel in March for $2.3 million.
A few parcels to the south, Maitland-based CFB Homes snagged four parcels totaling 16 acres in December 2021 for $3.4 million. The company is moving forward on plans to bring Hancock Lone Palm Road a 75-lot subdivision called Palm Village.
According to the developer’s website, homes here will range in size from two to four bedrooms.
This property was previously owned by Carlos Rivera, a principal withCafe Construction & Development. Rivera secured all of the necessary approvals from Orange County before parting with the land.
“We bought that first piece of land there 21 years ago,” Rivera said. “It was too early back then to do anything with, but the timing is just right now with the market being the way it is. So that’s why we decided to move forward with this last year.”
A 100-unit townhome community with a dog park, a jogging path, and large pond could also be coming to the east side of Hancock Lone Palm Road.
Since March, Jim Hall with HDSi andcivil engineer Dave Schmitt have been working on behalf of three property owners to prep the land for new development.
Application materials submitted to Orange County show that Shaw Hutto, a land developer with LPA Solutions, LLC, is under contract to purchase the four parcels totaling 18.5 acres.
The project took a step forward in April when the county agreed to rezone the land from its agricultural designation to a residential district. Hutto is currently seeking approval of a preliminary subdivision plan, which was submitted to the county on Nov. 22.
In August, the county submitted a letter advising the applicant of insufficient road capacity.
Renzo Nastasi, Orange County’s manager of transportation planning, said Hancock Lone Palm Road is one of several projects slated for a study to assess the potential improvements to the road.
“At this juncture, we don’t have specific details of what type of improvements may take place,” she said. “Those details will be clarified and defined within the context of the study. We anticipate starting the study sometime this summer.”
Hutto said he will work out a proportionate share arrangement with the county to make necessary improvements to Hancock Lone Palm Road to accommodate the added traffic.
Townhomes, which typically present a cheaper option than detached single-family homes, are in high demand across Orange County.
According to data from the Orange County Property Appraiser’s office presented to the county commission during its Aug. 30 meeting, homes across the county sold at an average price of $544,510 in 2021. Sixty-five percent of the transactions that year involved market-rate commodities. Just 4% of the home sales were for less than $300,000, according to the data.
The average sale price for townhomes across the county in 2021 was $331,873, according to the property appraiser’s office.
However, townhome production lags behind detached single-family homes and apartments locally, and Orange County leaders have stated a desire to see more.
The county, on average, processes permits for roughly 400 townhomes per year for the unincorporated areas of the county.
By comparison, the county has awarded permits for 3,176 multifamily units this year, as of late August.
Hutto, who also prepped the KB Home site for development, said that this stretch of East Orange County needs other housing options.
“To try to be in a more affordable range we felt like the townhome product was a better fit,” Hutto said.
He noted that several homebuilders have expressed interest in taking over the townhome project once it receives approval.
To a home builder, Hancock Lone Palm Road is just a good place to be, said Perlman with Pulte Homes.
Waterford Lakes, to the west, spans 840 acres with more than 3,100 homes. Avalon Park, to the south, covers 1,860 acres with more than 3,400 single-family units, 1,431 multi-family units, and more than half a million square feet of commercial space.
The area is also home to the campus of UCF, which sits to the north.
“East Orlando is attractive because of the robust job market surrounding UCF, Research Park and the various employers,” Perlman said, “as well as easy access to SR 417 and SR 50, which makes it a convenient location for people who work throughout the Central Florida area.”
Meanwhile, the west side of Hancock Lone Palm Road already has several completed subdivisions with Waterford Creek built by Mattamy Homes and Bridgewater, built by Park Square Homes.
Nearby, between Lake Pickett Road and State Road 50, Orlando’s first Agrihood community The Grow is moving forward with 2,078 residential lots and more than 100,000 square feet of commercial space centered on a working farm; also an HDSi project.
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The 50,000-square-foot Colonial Revival mansion on Lake Down in Windermere regarded as Orlando’s largest home is back on the market. And while the $30 million asking price is familiar, the sales strategy is different.
Mick Night and John Pinel, agents with Premier Sotheby International Reality, are marketing the 18-acre estate as a development opportunity. The dedicated website reads that the “options available to further develop this property are endless in expanding/building more structures, various ways to subdivide, parcel into a family compound, or continue to enjoy it as one massive private gated lakefront estate as utilized currently.
“This exceptional estate presents a rare opportunity to own a property of this stature in one of Central Florida’s most sought-after locales,” they said in a release. “Designed to maximize views while offering practicality, its expansive acreage, serene setting and multiple structures provide infinite possibilities.”
The property at 9508 Windy Ridge Road had approved subdivision plans when Gelcorp founder Jeff Gelman and his wife, Christine, bought it in 2010 and built their personal home within the walled and gated compound complete with 15 bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, two half-baths, and an art gallery and library.
The primary residence consists of 25,000 square feet of livable space with soaring ceilings, a floating mahogany staircase, a gourmet kitchen and a commercial elevator leading to the second floor, where you will find four expansive bedroom suites, including a second owners’ retreat and an 85-foot parlor highlighted by 20-foot ceilings, bookshelves and a wet bar. There’s also a boathouse and 625 feet of frontage on Lake Down in the Butler Chain of Lakes and a junior Olympic-sized swimming pool.
A breezeway connects the home to a 5,600-square-foot lodge with its own private bar and catering kitchen. The separate garage buildings are large enough to accommodate a full-sized motor coach and a collection of 50 cars.
The home was completed in 2011, and the Gelmans listed it for sale in 2015 for $30 million. Since then it has been on and off the market at prices ranging from $40 million to $28.5 million. The listing was removed in July 2021 and relisted a week ago.
In 2019, the home was the scene of an igly incident in 2019 when a Winter Garden woman somehow gained access to the property and drove her SUV around the yard while chasing and screaming anti-Semitic insults at Gelmans. The woman, Kristen Kelly of Winter Garden, was charged with aggravated assault and burglary. A hate crime charge was later added.
In 2020, the Gelmans received approval from Orange County for a Land Use Plan that would clear the way to rezone the property to a Planned Development. The plan from Jim Hall of HDSi would have kept the main home intact and split off the eastern 4.4 acres into a separate lot with entitlements for 14 single-family homes. The minimum lot size would be 50 feet by 120 feet and the minimum house size would be 2,000 square feet. The couple never followed through with the rezoning, opting instead to put the entire property on the market.
This is the first time Knight and Pinel have marketed the Gelman property, but they have a long track record of successful luxury sales, including the $10.65 million sale last year of a mansion owned by another real estate developer, the late Robert Picerne, on Lake Virginia in Winter Park.
The most expensive home sold in the Orlando market so far this year is the 8,0000 square foot Capolavaro mansion in Disney’s Golden Oak neighborhood. It sold for $12 million after previously being listed for $16 million.
In 2021, Central Florida’s most expensive home sale topped out at $12.5 million. The sprawling estate sold by basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal ranked second at $11 million.
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The Orlando market’s first Agrihood community will include 2,078 residential lots and more than 100,000 square feet of commercial space centered around a nine-acre working farm. (PFD)
When Dwight Saathoff set out to bring the Orlando market its first Agrihood community with 2,078 residential lots and more than 100,000 square feet of commercial space centered around a nine-acre working farm, home builders jumped at the opportunity to be a part of something unique.
“I had bids from at least a dozen builders to come over here,” Saathoff, owner of Project Finance & Development, told GrowthSpotter. “We wanted to partner with someone we knew; someone we had a lot of comfort and trust with.”
Ultimately, the Pulte Group — which Saathoff had worked with previously — was chosen to build out the long-planned “farm and garden” community called The Grow. Nine years in the making, it’s finally getting the remaining necessary approvals from the Orange County Commission.
The sweeping master development plan covers a total of 1,185 acres of pastoral land in a rural section of Northeast Orange County between Lake Pickett Road and State Road 50 near Bithlo. In addition to a mix of attached and detached single-family homes, the project calls for 21 acres of community gardens, a 20-acre community park, 12 miles of recreational trails, an equestrian facility, edible landscaping, a street for farmers’ markets, and a farm-to-table restaurant, among other agricultural amenities.
In March, the county signed off on the project’s infrastructure and road network. On Sept. 27, the commission gave final approval to a preliminary subdivision plan for the south portion of the site: 722 detached homes and 164 townhome units. The final section, the north piece of The Grow, which calls for 1,070 detached homes and 122 townhomes, is expected to go before the commission in the coming weeks. (PFD)
The site also has land set aside for a future k-8 school. Roughly 650 acres will remain open space and a 100-foot buffer of natural vegetation will separate the community from main roadways.
In March, the county signed off on the project’s infrastructure and road network. On Sept. 27, the commission gave final approval to a preliminary subdivision plan for the south portion of the site: 722 detached homes and 164 townhome units.
The final section, the north piece of The Grow, which calls for 1,070 detached homes and 122 townhomes, is expected to go before the commission in the coming weeks.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Saathoff said, adding with a laugh. “I tell people I was a young man when I started this project.”
He began work on this project nearly nine years ago. The idea was inspired, in part, by his ancestors who were farmers in South Dakota.
Since then, the Agrihood concept has grown in popularity across the country. Today, the Urban Land Institute estimates that there are more than 200 agrihoods across the United States, spanning at least 30 states, from rural communities to major cities.
“When I started there weren’t many of these,” he said. “It’s definitely a style of development that has a lot of appeal.”
The Grow is a project that Pulte is “grateful” to be a part of, said Max Perlman, the VP of Land Acquisition for the company’s Central Florida division. e said homes within the project will have a mix of architectural styles and product types with lots ranging in size from 32 feet to one-acre.
Townhomes are planned to be between 1,600 and 1,900 square feet with 3-4 bedrooms while detached homes will range in size from 1,600 to over 5,000 square feet. Specific styles and floorplans are currently under design, he added.
“Pulte is excited to be a part of this thoughtfully planned community with its’ immense natural beauty, an excellent location and tremendous opportunity to create a lifestyle unlike any other in Central Florida,” Perlman said in an email.
Jim Hall with HDSiis the community planner for the master community design. VHB serves as the civil engineer on the project.Bio-tech Consulting is handling environmental affairs and Allen and Company is the surveyor.
https://p4xcc4.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/hall3logo-300x78.png00halldsihttps://p4xcc4.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/hall3logo-300x78.pnghalldsi2022-10-06 11:45:042022-10-06 11:45:04The Grow moves towards development; October 4, 2022
Mount Dora Groves would straddle U.S. 441, next to the Country Club of Mount Dora. (Lake County Property Appraiser)
Bering Homes’ plan for a 224.6-acre mixed-use development on U.S. 441 next to the Country Club of Mount Dora, scrapped in January, appears to be getting new life, this time in Lake County, not in the city. The project will be split into two separate planned unit developments – one on the north side of U.S. 441 and one on the south side.
Lake County’s Planning and Zoning Board unanimously approved the Mount Dora Groves cases, which will go to the Board of County Commissioners on Oct. 4.
Mount Dora Groves primarily consists of vacant citrus groves. The properties are owned by the Simpson Family Partnership LTD, of Mount Dora, with Robert L. Simpson named agent and Mount Dora and naming Mark R. Simpson of Mount Dora Groves, Inc. as president of the partnership.
The applicant is proposing 275 single-family residential lots for Mount Dora North, containing 4.42 dwelling units per net acre. It is requesting a comprehensive land-use amendment to change the land use from Urban Low Density and Regional Commercial to Urban Medium Density.
The Concept Plan for Mount Dora Groves North would establish a 50-foot buffer along Loch Leven, then a row of estate homes on 70-foot lots. The North Neighorhood (yellow) would allow a minimum lot size of 40 feet.
Under the existing land use, the site is entitled for a maximum of 436 homes. However, the PUD application would limit the number of homes to 275. The PUD zoning requests 70-foot lots on the shore of Loch Levin and a mix of lot sizes over the rest of the subject property. A frontage road would allow residents to access the shopping center next door without exiting onto U.S. 441, and a golf cart path would connect the property to the country club.
For Mount Dora Groves South, the applicant proposes a mixed-use development containing 783 single-family and multi-family dwelling units with a density of approximately 9.75 dwelling units per acre), 150,000 square feet of commercial uses, and associated recreational facilities. The partnership is asking for a large-scale comprehensive plan amendment from Regional Office to Planned Unit Development. A case will be filed shortly for rezoning to PUD.
Planner Jim Hall with HDSi said the request would represent a downzoning from the existing Regional Office land use. “We were allowed 1,000 dwelling units and over 10 million square feet of nonresidential. The amount of traffic that would generate makes my head spin,” he said.
Hall said that because of the site configuration, the commercial lots would not accommodate big-box retailers. “It would be smaller, individual users,” he said. The request and future PUD would allow for a maximum height of 65 feet. Hall explained that one of the parcels could be used for a hotel, which would need that kind of height, but retail and office buildings likely wouldn’t exceed 35 feet.
Mount Dora Groves South would allow for 150,000 square feet of commercial or hotel uses (red), apartments, rental homes and single family homes. (HALFF)
The U.S. 441 corridor in Mount Dora has been a draw recently for new hotels. A new 4-story TownePlace Suites by Marriott is being built next door to the Mount Dora Groves South. And a pair of hotels, Holiday Inn Express and Home2 Suites, are coming in just east of the site.
In addition to the commercial use, the concept plan shows 783 residential units consisting of a 360-unit mid-rise apartment complex, 103 detached single family homes and 320 lowrise multifamily homes, which by definition would contain one or two dwelling units per building.
Mount Dora City Manager Patrick Cominsky asked the board to add a condition prohibiting built-to-rent units as a housing category. “Our staff wanted to see instead of build-to-rent, we wanted to see build-to-own. We felt that the character of Mount Dora needed to have more build-to-own properties in this land instead of creating a big swath of rental units,” he said.
Attorney Thu Pham with Akerman said that land development decisions cannot be based on the type of ownership. “I’m not sure that’s even a valid criteria as part of your consideration,” she said.
Only a pair of speakers addressed the P&Z Board Wednesday regarding the Mount Dora Groves project. It was a 180-degree turnaround from when the case was heard earlier this year. The Tampa-based homebuilder faced heavy pushback from neighbors when the plan was presented to the Mount Dora City Council in January, leading Bering Homes to pull applications that would have allowed the project to move forward by early 2023. Bering Principals Chad O’Brien and Ronald Rakunas had gone to the city with requests to get a comprehensive land-use amendment to allow for the mixed-use development on U.S. 441, including 100,000 square feet of commercial and 776 single- and multi-family homes, both low/medium and high-density units with a maximum height of 65 feet.
The city council approved the annexation in December 2021, but delayed votes on the land-use amendment and the Planning Unit Development zoning so a public workshop could be held. And that is where the project went south.
A dust-up occurred when Planning and Zoning Commissioner James Honich made comments to the audience considered improper for a member of a quasi-judicial board, which is to remain impartial. He told the audience the project was all about “more house and more money.”
There was even a call to remove Honich from the board, but that failed. Still, Bering Homes Attorney Cecilia Bonifay told the city council her clients were withdrawing the applications. She told the council her client could not get a fair and unbiased decision in Mount Dora.
https://p4xcc4.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/hall3logo-300x78.png00halldsihttps://p4xcc4.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/hall3logo-300x78.pnghalldsi2022-10-06 11:35:272022-10-06 11:35:27HDSi planning a 270 acre mixed use project in Lake County; September 7, 2022