As Orange County planners prepare for a population uptick of 700,000 people by 2050, they’re expecting many of these newcomers to take up residence in one of four core areas: along the International Drive corridor, around the campus of UCF, next to downtown Orlando or near the Orlando International Airport.

“Our analysis identifies this sector, which is about 34,000 acres in size, as being able to absorb about 44% of the population growth,” Alberto Vargas, the county’s lead planner, told GrowthSpotter. “So out of 700,000 people we are talking about 304,000 people that will move into the urban service area.”

On Tuesday, the Orange County Commission will vote on a major overhaul to its long-term comprehensive plan called Vision 2050. While the 497-page draft document delves into growth expectations for the entire county —including neighborhoods and rural communities — a major emphasis is placed on these targeted, high-population centers.

Under Vision 2050, county planners are clearing the way for higher-density (from 50 dwelling units per acre to up to 100 dwelling units per acre) and taller buildings in the tourism district, near Orlando’s downtown, along University and Alafaya Drive, and areas near Lake Nona. They’re also hoping to make it easier for developers to bring residential products to old, underutilized commercial properties, such as strip malls, where large parking lots sit mostly empty.

The prospect of higher density and taller buildings being allowed in the county is encouraging to Craig Ustler, CCIM, the developer behind many highrises in downtown Orlando including Creative Village.

Ustler will be honored at CFCAR's upcoming 2023 Hallmark Awards Event as the Recipient of the Wilbur Strickland Lifetime Achievement Award.

“Vargas has done a great job with the Vision 2050 plan and it follows the principles of new urbanism and facilitates density in the appropriate locations,” he told GrowthSpotter. “I am focused on Downtown Orlando and the city but I appreciate what Alberto and the County have done and it will attract more ‘urban type’ development as well as the developers that deliver that kind of product.”

With the changes presented in Vision 2050, Ustler said he could potentially be interested in future projects in the county.

“I commend Alberto and the County for this Vision 2050 plan because it is well presented and functions as a ‘market mover’ meaning it creates clear expectations and directs growth to the desired locations,” he said. “The County’s plan certainly makes it more likely that I would be interested in future projects in the County, but in the near term my focus is on Creative Village and Downtown Orlando.”

The current comprehensive plan the county follows was adopted in 1991 and was last updated in 2009. The county’s Vision 2050 plan has been a work in progress for many years with input from residents and the development sector.

Leading up to the adoption of its Vision 2050 plan, the county has in recent months taken steps to speed up the approval process for new multifamily development projects. The county has also used public meetings to itch the need for more missing middle products

In January, county planners identified private land where these missing middle projects could go: two locations along Colonial Drive and another near Orange Blossom Trail where an operating, yet old, shopping center sits.

These under-utilized shopping centers dot the Orange County landscape, Vargas said. One goal of Vision 2050 is to make it easier for the private sector to redevelop these properties by adding residential units.

Under the current plan, developers would have to go through several steps in the rezoning and approval process to move forward. It will be simpler under Vision 2050.

“Now we are focusing very much on the retrofitting of those under-utilized parcels which are a big chunk of that 34,000 acres in the targeted segment,” Vargas said. “We did not get many developers (for projects like this) in the past because developers were not able to do it, there were all of those barriers, now it’s a lot more attractive. The hope is that when developers know this door is open, they will be more willing to bring forward projects like this.”

Source:  GrowthSpotter

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