Orlando Magic entertainment complex provides spark for downtown Orlando as development slows
The announcement of development partners for the Orlando Magic’s long-awaited sports and entertainment complex provided a spark of hope for an otherwise flagging development scene in The City Beautiful’s downtown district.
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The complex, once complete, will feature hotel rooms, apartments, an event venue, retail and office space, as well as an outdoor plaza. Proponents of the project say it will drive the area’s economy on the west side of I-4, complementing the recently finished Creative Village.
“Central Florida is a fantastic market for this type of mixed-use development, and this project will further energize downtown Orlando,” Todd Chapman, CEO of JMA Ventures, one of the developers brought onto the project, said in a press release. “We look forward to working with the Orlando community to bring the sports and entertainment district to life.”
However, the rosy market indicators have rarely matched the reality on the ground since the pandemic brought many projects to a halt in 2020. Downtown Orlando has seen more than a dozen proposals fall through, including two that would have been the tallest and second tallest towers in the city, respectively.
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At that time, developers said inflation and supply chain stress stopped many projects from moving forward. Now, the blame is shifting to stubbornly high-interest rates.
Doug Kelly, Land Development Planning Manager for ETM, Inc., said he’s seeing fewer projects enter the pipeline, particularly multi-family residential projects like apartment buildings.
“The interest rate increase has put a real damper on the ability for the multifamily development community to be able to get funding,” he explained. “In some cases they’re doing preliminary engineering and they may need to put it on the shelf until the interest rates become more predictable.”
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Kelly said one of his projects, located near the Orange County Administration Building, was still projected to break ground in the spring.
An additional project, unrelated to Kelly, next to the Truist tower “broke ground” over the summer – though little visible work has been done since the prior building was demolished. A third tower across from the county courthouse is expected to open in January.
The lack of activity in the downtown area has left residents wondering what could be.
“I don’t think it’s the worst downtown I’ve ever been in. But there are definitely places that we can improve on,” Samuel McGinthy said, listing queer-friendly spaces as his top wish list item.
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Others said more public art.
The City of Orlando is doing what it can to help downtown transform into a more livable community as it waits for construction to pick up. Recently, it announced the lease of a long-vacant parcel on Orange Avenue that it plans to turn into a public square after the lot is cleaned up.
That process will begin after a sculpture that was assembled on-site Monday is moved to EDC in November.
One of the artists who worked on the project, Tina Johnson, said the piece was originally supposed to be displayed at Lake Eola.
“It makes me really happy because I’ve been living in Orlando for years, and I’ve always seen this as like a bare spot, and to give it some life. It makes me feel really good,” she said.
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