A South Korean group — headed by global giant LG Corp. subsidiary LG Electronics Inc. — plans to build a major development in Osceola County.

The development, dubbed LG Smart Town Center, will spread over 25 to 30 acres and have up to a $500 million budget in the county’s NeoCity tech hub. The town center is part of a larger effort to bring South Korean companies to expand their U.S. presences in the 500-acre campus.

The future development will include smart homes, retail and other buildings along with innovation labs. The county and the South Korean group aim to ink a development contract by this fall, said Mark Miller chairman of NeoCity Links, an organization paid by Osceola County to recruit businesses to NeoCity.

LG couldn't be reached for comment.

“LG is by far the leading company in smart city technology in the world,” Miller said. “This has moved very quickly, and they’re very excited about doing it.”

The groundbreaking timeline isn’t known. Other details about the project will be revealed as part of the contract. Outside of LG, the South Korean group also includes Haeahn, which is South Korea’s largest architectural firm, and Pohang University of Science & Technology.

Osceola County officials — along with executives with Bridg, a Kissimmee-based tech company with a presence in NeoCity — for years have worked with South Korean firms in order to attract more investment in NeoCity.

Meanwhile, two construction projects continue at NeoCity:

• Bridg’s $25 million, four-story, 100,000-square-foot office building is expected to open in late July with 50,000 square feet of space available for future tenants.
• NeoCity Academy high school's $15 million, 45,000-square-foot building will be completed in the fall. Right now, the school's students are housed temporarily at Gateway High School.

Osceola County expects to bring dozens of manufacturing, technology and defense firms to NeoCity and aims to create 127,000 jobs at the site in the next 50 years. NeoCity currently has the 109,000-square-foot Center of Neovation, which is an advanced manufacturing center.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW A SLIDESHOW OF THE PROJECT

Source:  OBJ