ORLANDO, Fla. – As Universal Orlando approaches the grand opening of Epic Universe, a first-of-its-kind affordable housing community is taking shape nearby.
Ryan von Weller, COO of Wendover Housing Partners, gave News 6 an update on Catchlight Crossings, which promises to give hospitality and service workers an affordable place to live close to where they work.
“This particular development is going to really be a game changer for how we view affordable housing,” von Weller said. “We’re doing 1,000 units across 20 acres, which is essentially 50 units per acre. In Central Florida, that’s a little atypical.”
Wendover Housing Partners is the developer behind the $375 million project that’s being built near Epic Universe and the Orange County Convention Center. The prime piece of real estate at the corner of Tradeshow Boulevard and Destination Parkway was donated by Universal to help alleviate the shortage of affordable and workforce housing in the bustling tourist corridor.
Around 100,000 people commute to work in the I-Drive district daily, often facing long travel times due to the lack of nearby affordable housing.
“You do have hourly workers and tourism workers who are traveling extraordinary distances to get here to go to work,” von Weller added. “Hopefully with the creation of these units, we’ll be able to supply some much-needed housing right at the front door of the tourism corridor and I-Drive.”
Of the 1,000 total units that’ll be offered at Catchlight Crossings, 600 will be set aside for residents whose salaries are between 30%-60% of the area’s median income (AMI), while the remaining 400 units will provide workforce housing for people earning 80%-120% AMI. Orange County’s median income is $90,400.
There are only 19 affordable and available homes for every 100 extremely low-income households in Orlando, according to the latest report from the National Low-Income Housing Coalition. Given the severe shortage, von Weller is hopeful more housing will be added in the tourist district.
“We know Brightline and SunRail may be coming to this corridor as proven by the studies that the county and city have provided recently,” he said. “When all those things come together, it’s really changing the dynamic of this exact corridor and affordable housing should be a significant portion of it.”
On top of housing, the community will be flush with amenities and on-site services, including medical offices, tuition-free preschool, educational opportunities with UCF, along with 16,000 square feet of retail space. Additionally, a transportation hub will provide access to ride-shares and on-demand shuttles.
“That’s part of improving the quality of life for the residents,” von Weller added. “It will certainly be a shift from what we’ve seen from most affordable housing developments, including the ones we provide. This one’s going to be a true mixed-use development that’s going to have these services on site.”
Since Catchlight Crossings broke ground a year-and-a-half ago, critical infrastructure work has been happening underneath the surface. In the coming months, though, von Weller expects construction will really start to ramp up.
“I would say in the next 60 days we’ll start seeing this thing go vertical,” he said. “The good thing is that the infrastructure that’s being completed now is for all three phases, so when we’re ready to go to phase two, we’ll hopefully be able to pick up some time because we’ll be able to start building right away.”
The first phase of the project, featuring 300 units, is expected to be completed by 2026, with full build-out anticipated by 2029.
