Creative Village hopes to build on Orlando's growing digital media industry by transforming the former Amway Arena site into a mixed-used, transit-oriented, urban infill neighborhood.

ORLANDO—Creative Village Development (CVD), a new transit-oriented development that aims to foster a live, work, learn, play lifestyle in Downtown Orlando, is gaining momentum. Developers just picked JLL to oversee marketing of sites available for sale in the public-private partnership between the city of Orlando and CVD, a joint venture between a Ustler Development entity and Bank of America Community Development Corporation.

“These parcels offer developers a very compelling opportunity to deliver new construction in-line with over $350 million of adjacent, vertical construction including the 7,700 students, faculty and administrative staff that will be living, working, learning and playing in Creative Village and UCF Downtown,” said JLL Senior Vice President Aaron Gray.

Creative Village hopes to build on Orlando's growing digital media industry by transforming the former Amway Arena site into a mixed-used, transit-oriented, urban infill neighborhood. The new University of Central Florida's Downtown Campus, as well as high-tech, digital media and creative companies will call the village home. UCF and its partners have committed over $74 million to the downtown campus, with the first phase opening in 2019. UCF Downtown is expected to create a $205 million annual economic impact.

The first phase offers three development sites programed for multifamily development within the 68-acre mixed-use project, as well as office, commercial, and hotel space. JLL senior vice president Aaron Gray and vice president Bret Felberg are handling the assignment.

UCF Downtown is attracting private development, including a $90 million, 600-bed student housing project from Ustler with KUD International as joint venture partner and a 250-unit market-rate apartment project by Ustler and a joint venture partner valued at $62.5 million. BACDC and Atlantic Housing Partners are developing a $29 million, 1160unit mixed-income housing project. And underway is a $40 million renovation of the former Sheraton Hotel and a new $60 million PK-8 Orange County Public School serving the Parramore community.

Creative Village includes approximately $23 million of infrastructure and related work to facilitate development of the first phase. The initial phase of infrastructure development for Creative Village will be completed by Fall 2016. Vertical construction will begin in 2017. The initial phase at Creative Village represents a total investment value of approximately $431 million, including $356 million in new vertical development activity.

Creative Village is being developed at a strategic time for Downtown Orlando. Moody's has projected that the city's population will grow by over 10% within the next five years. Orlando is currently the fourth-fastest growing city in the country. Employment is projected to rise by over 13%, making Orlando the top city in the country for employment growth. The Orlando metro region population is over 2.5 million, which is in the top 25 nationally.

JLL's Q2 2016 Office Insight has found that much of this growth can be attributed to an expanding tech sector, as technology companies accounted for 36.6% of overall real estate transactions in the second quarter of this year alone. The technology industry is expected to continue expanding its footprint in the city.

What's more, Ten-Rex Research recently named Orlando the top market for multifamily investment, citing in its 2016 multi-family outlook that “construction of apartments is at a 10-year high but that isn't expected to outpace demand. Vacancies holding steady at 5.7% for the next three years.”

Creative Village is one of the largest transit-oriented developments in the Southeastern United States. The project is adjacent to LYNX Central Station, the primary transit station in Downtown Orlando for the SunRail commuter line. The LYNX bus rapid transit system serves Creative Village, the Parramore neighborhood and the west side of Downtown Orlando providing convenient and free service.

Creative Village is a long-term development model that will occur in several phases over 10 to 15 years. Over time, various and select parcels will be marketed to third parties as part of the overall master development plan. Upon development and build out of the entire project, total vertical development value is estimated well in excess of $1 billion.

Steady gains in the US economy have resulted in net positives for the multifamily sector—will this wave continue for the foreseeable future? What's driving development and capital flows? Join us at RealShare Apartments on October 19 & 20 for impactful information from the leaders in the National multifamily space. Learn more.

Instant Insights /

$1 Billion Transit-Oriented Development Rising in Downtown Orlando

Related Stories

Recommended For You