GDC paid $2.6 million or $742,857 per acre for the site at Marks Street and North Orange Avenue, just north of the main Downtown sector, area brokers in a position to know tell GlobeSt.com. The New York developer plans to erect 30,000 sf of office, 20,000 sf of retail and about 250 apartments and condominiums on a 2.5-acre pad.

After completing the deal with the Stein Group, GDC turned around and sold off one acre of its 3.5-acre acquisition to Orlando-based Ustler II Inc. for $1.3 million or about $29.84 per sf. Ustler plans to build 60,000 sf of condominium office space, 17,500 sf of retail and a 320-space garage.

The $17.05 per-sf price that GDC paid for its land and the $29.84 per sf that Ustler paid GDC are still under the record Downtown price that Columbus, OH developer Ronald A. Pizzuti paid for a prime 10.83-acre parcel at North Orange Avenue and Livingston Street in 1995, Orange County real estate records show. Pizzuti paid $14.2 million.

The $1.31-million-per-acre price equates to $30.10 per sf. The seller was William M. duPont, a Louisville, KY horse breeder and former majority owner of the Orlando Magic basketball team.

Toronto-based Olympia & York Corp. had planned to construct a 19-story, 400,000-sf, class A office building in 1992 on the land GDC purchased from the Stein Group. The office structure would have been a twin to the existing 19-story, 400,000-sf building at 800 N. Orange Ave. The building was formerly called Olympia Place and renamed One Orlando Centre 10 years ago when the Stein Group bought the property.