The 45 acre venture in east Seminole County is five miles north of the 35,000-student University of Central Florida campus which is stretched thin on campus housing units, Emmer and other college shelter analysts contend.

The planning board maintains Portofino is planned at a two-lane traffic nightmare location at McCulloch and Old Lockwood Roads. Residents argue the project proposed near affluent single-family University Estates where homes sit on quarter-acre lots is not consistent with the area's growth plan. And environmentalists say Emmer's newest multifamily community would destroy existing wildlife such as sandhill cranes, deer and foxes.

Seminole County commissioners will rule on Emmer's development permit application Feb. 12 when their chambers are expected to be packed by hooting foes of the project, residents tell GlobeSt.com on condition of anonymity. Emmer couldn't be reached for comment at GlobeSt.com's publication deadline.

The developer's strongest argument will be that his existing $19 million, 240-unit Tivoli student apartment complex, a mile from planned Portofino, is not touching off the same venomous protests.

The need for student housing, both in Orlando and across the country, is acute, shelter investment experts say. From a lender's perspective, Orlando remains "a hot market with the growth of the University of Central Florida, but land is in limited supply," Todd Cohen, vice president, Primary Capital Advisors, Orlando, tells GlobeSt.com.

Hard construction costs can range from $50,000 to $60,000 per unit, depending on bathrooms and amenities, plus land acquisition, site development expenses and financing costs. "These can vary considerably and can bring total costs to over $80,000 per unit and over $30,000 per bedroom," Cohen says.

Hard construction costs per bedroom can range from $20,000 to $30,000 per bedroom for a typical deal. The projects generally sell for over $100,000 per unit--making the profit factor obvious for a developer, Cohen says.

Standard & Poor's Corp analysts regularly note the "very strong demand for on-campus housing" as well as off-campus shelter in Florida and other university/college towns across the country.

Paul M. Guyet, a vice president at Orlando-based Smith Equities Corp., one of the largest campus housing brokers in the nation, says the profit window in off-campus shelter ventures is wide open. He recently closed on two separate deals where development costs were estimated at $90,000 per apartment.

Guyet sold the 228-unit, 840 bedroom Village at Alafaya Club Apartments, near the University of Central Florida, for $25.48 million. The sale price equates to $111,732 per apartment and $30,327 per bedroom.

He also sold the 198-unit, 732-bedroom College Suites at Science Drive for $23.3 million or $121,354 per apartment and $31,830 per bedroom. The buyer for both properties was American Campus Communities of Austin, TX.

"It's a great business for the right investor but it is not a good investment for an absentee owner, unless he or she has an excellent management team" on site, Guyet tells GlobeSt.com.