Local Firm Pays Estimated $4M for Prime Downtown Corner

The estimated $90.90 per-sf price would be a record for Downtown dirt, industrial brokers familiar with the strategic corner tell GlobeSt.com. The contract price hasn't been recorded yet with Orange County but brokers note that Orlando Sentinel sold a nearby 1.9-acre parcel in 2002 to Longwood developer Jay Royall for nearly $2.1 million or almost $1.1 million per acre. That $24.77-per-sf price was a record for Downtown dirt at the time.

Midtown Development principals couldn't be reached by GlobeSt.com publication deadline to learn what the company plans to build on the acquired site. Downtown brokers tell GlobeSt.com the developer could be planning a high-rise condo-retail project similar to other ventures recently announced for central business district sites.

An Orlando Sentinel Communications subsidiary, North Orange Avenue Properties Inc., is the seller of record in the Midtown Development deal. The 2.6 acres run west along Colonial Drive and north along Orange Avenue to Echelon at Cheney Place, a 303-unit apartment community at 860 N. Orange Ave. At 911 N. Orange Ave., another recently completed apartment complex, Echelon at Uptown, contains 244 apartment units.

The 2.6 acres are about 300 feet from the entrance to the Orlando Sentinel newspaper offices and printing plant at 633 N. Orange Ave. Sentinel Communications is one of the largest Downtown property owners.