ORLANDO, Fla. – A gigantic development project in Orlando’s Sunbridge community is one step closer to groundbreaking as city officials approved its plans on Tuesday.
City documents state that Orlando-based Tavistock Development is allowed to build the following on this prime piece of real estate:
Recommended Videos
- 5,720 Single Family Homes
- 1,650 Multi-Family Homes
- 1.5 million square-feet of office space
- 7 million square-feet of industrial buildings
- 880,000 square-feet of retail
- 490 hotel rooms
This project will be roughly 4,700 acres and will be built along State Road 528 and Innovation way, according to development plans.
The Sunbridge community itself is more than 20,000 acres and spans across Orange and Osceola Counties. It is inspired by Tavistock’s other community, Lake Nona, according to the development groups website.
Orlando and Orange County went to battle over Sunbridge last year — but an interlocal agreement was reached in November and the city annexed 6,200-acres of the Sunbridge subdivision, as previously reported.
Orlando approving this project was part of the conditions from interlocal agreement, as the city had to comply with development plans that Orange County commissioners previously approved.
Meanwhile, as seen in other parts of Central Florida, some residents are concerned if this construction will cause flooding.
Suzanne Arnold who lives near this development and is, a member of the Lake Mary Jane Alliance spoke during Tuesday’s meeting about these concerns.
“One of our main and ongoing concerns is water, both where it will overflow to and how much the usage will impact our wells,” Arnold said.
This organization is made up of property owners along Lake Mary Jane who advocate for the ‘protection of the area’s rural lifestyle,’ according to its website.
“We want to review how the surface water will overflow into the wetlands and eventually into our lakes. Especially when we continue to have these ‘once in a century storms’ where we are seeing more record-breaking rains that have flooded many homes in our communities,” Arnold said.
Overall, these plans will now be reviewed by state agencies then go back to Orlando’s Municipal Planning Board for final approval.
To check out the full plans click here.
You can listen to every episode of Florida’s Fourth Estate in the media player below: