ORLANDO—Orlando—and the greater Central Florida area—is ripe for opportunity. But there are also challenges, even X factors, that could throw the area for a loop.
GlobeSt.com caught up with Paul Ellis, group president for CNL Commercial Real Estate, to talk about those opportunities and challenges. Be sure to look for Ellis at RealShare Central Florida on June 11. He's on the Development and Redevelopment Across Central Florida panel.
Ellis didn't spend too much time discussing the opportunities. He tells GlobeSt.com CNL is a big believer in commercial real estate prospects in and around Downtown Orlando. As he sees it, if Orlando aims to continue as a leading edge city, it has to embrace urbanization of our country.
“The biggest challenges are 'black swan' type events—economic breakdowns or other major occurrences overseas that affect the US,” Ellis says. “Really, any significant event that we can't foresee. The problem is you can't necessarily plan for these, but they are more real today than they've ever been.”
That said, Ellis is not a doom and gloomer. Barring a black swan event, he sees Orlando as one of the strongest market in which CNL works.
“The good news is that, for Orlando, we compete effectively with more markets than we've ever competed against in the past for population and job growth,” Ellis says. “This can also be a downside, but the challenge is to be more creative, more leading edge and more innovative than our competitors.”
Ellis closing thoughts: How cities work with private developments is another area that is a big challenge for all markets right now. Navigating this is something he believes the city of Orlando does very well. You can still read part one of this interview: What Orlando Needs to Embrace Now.
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