A new mixed-use project may soon transform undeveloped land in south Orange County.

Developer Chris Miller — CEO of C. Miller Capital, which has offices in Orlando and Miami — plans to build a hotel, 11 commercial parcels, a 2-acre storage unit, 350 apartments and 150 condos northwest of John Young Parkway and the future Holden Avenue extension, Miller told Orlando Business Journal.

Miller is under contract with entities related to the landowners. The project, called Millenia Place, is subject to city of Orlando approvals.

Those involved with the project so far include Kevin Hipes, Millenia Place's exclusive broker and founder of Orlando-based Hipes Consulting & Brokerage LLC; and Orlando-based AVID Group is the engineer. A general contractor and architect haven't been selected. The project may cost more than $100 million to build — which may create roughly 1,000 construction jobs, based on industry standards. Miller may sell some parcels to developers and may build some of the project himself.

Miller went under contract for the roughly 60 acres around August and plans to buy the land on Dec. 6. Construction may start in mid-2021 and take one year to complete.

"The entire area is bursting at the seams," Miller said.

Meanwhile, Orlando is in the midst of a building boom. The value of commercial construction starts in metro Orlando — when a permit is issued to a general contractor for a new project — grew by 43% year-over-year to $2.6 billion, the most recent data from New York-based Dodge Data & Analytics showed.

And demand for land continues to rise. Some of the biggest Central Florida land sales closed during this past quarter, as total volume topped $1 billion in August. Out-of-town investors who are lured by population growth continue to want more Orlando-area property for new commercial and residential development.

That means more commercial projects are in the works.

“There’s still extreme confidence in Central Florida,” Andy Slowik, director of the land advisory group for Chicago-based Cushman & Wakefield PLC, who keeps track of these transactions in Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Lake counties, previously told Orlando Business Journal. “I definitely anticipate the momentum will continue into 2020.”

Source:  OBJ