Avalon Park Planning 500,000 SF of Retail/Commercial Space

ORLANDO-Avalon Park, a neotraditionally-designed community noted more for its single-family ambience than a commercial atmosphere, plans to tweak that perception a little in the new year.

The development is launching a $15-million construction program in the first quarter that will include a 100,000-sf town center, 70 apartments, 78 luxury townhomes, a community center and a new Lutheran Church. Townhome sales begin next month. The development is approved for 500,000 sf of commercial space.

“In about 15 months, you may not recognize Avalon Park,” project developer Beat Kahli tells GlobeSt.com. For example, the town center facility will comprise a single four-story building that will have 70 apartments on upper floors and 28,000 sf of rental shops and cafes at street level.

“The building is designed with a variegated elevation so that it looks like several buildings erected over many years,” Kahli says. “The individual facets of the building façade will all be of the same architectural genre, but each one has its own unique flourish, finish and look.”

The estimated value of existing commercial projects at Avalon is $3.5 million, puny compared to what Kahli is planning for the near future. For example, a 19,000-sf Lutheran Church facility and a 3,000-sf community center the church will share with Avalon residents and a 2,000-sf children’s golf academy are slated to break ground in the first quarter. Two schools are under construction.

Also in the works are a 15,000-sf gymnasium and a 15,000-sf day care center. The Vin Bistro just opened and a dry cleaning shop will be in business Nov. 1. Kahli is also negotiating with Florida Hospital for a walk-in clinic.

Commercial tenants are on three-year or five-year leases. “The length of each lease is flexible and is based on the desires of the tenant,” Kahli says.

A model center is also going up to showcase multifamily and single-family product being built by five selected area builders–American Heritage Homes, Ryland Homes, Brentwood Custom Homes, David Weekly Homes and Innovative Building Solutions of Maitland.