PPF Real Estate Planning High-Density Mixed-Use Project Near Universal’s New Epic Universe Theme Park

Global investment company PPF Real Estate has revealed plans to bring a sizable, high-density mixed-use project to a portion of the property situated along John Young Parkway close to Universal‘s new Epic Universe theme park, nearly two years after breaking a Central Florida record by paying $315 million for SouthPark Center, an Orlando office park.

In order to create a PD with entitlements for 2,406 multifamily apartments, or 50 units per acre, and more than 1.75 million square feet of commercial and retail space, the business submitted an application to Orange County on August 21. On the location of the SouthPark Center, development plans also include for a hotel with 185 rooms and a parking structure.

A nine-parcel area of SouthPark Center with five fully leased office buildings totaling 670,000 square feet is the subject of the planned new development. According to Aaron Smith, managing director of PPF Real Estate, those structures will stay in place.

The land owner is asking for ten waivers in relation to building height, building separation, setbacks, and parking, per the application papers. Instead of the three levels permitted by county regulation, apartment buildings might be up to seven stories.

The hotel is expected to have 12 floors, compared to the seven stories (or 100 feet) of other commercial and retail structures. Commercial structures may be up to 50 feet tall according to county ordinance.

Additionally, a waiver is being requested so that multifamily structures can have a minimum distance of 20 feet instead of the 40 feet required for three-story buildings.

According to a land-use plan created by Kimley-Horn, these waiver requests “will allow for a vertically integrated, dense urban mixed-use development.”

The development plan specifies a 15-foot separation between residential and commercial structures and main roadways. For commercial structures, the county code mandates 40-foot setbacks, whereas residential products are required to have 50-foot setbacks.

The waivers “allow for a more dense unified mixed-use development,” according to the land-use plan. The suggested distance will enable development consistent with the county’s preferred urban form for new and infill development because many of the additional buildings being proposed are mixed-use structures.

According to the application materials, 400,000 square feet of the commercial space will be vertically integrated with multifamily housing within the same building.

According to Smith, the objective is to have the land-use plan authorized and the necessary entitlements in place before looking for developers to complete the project.

Ten structures totaling 1.25 million square feet are part of the 162 acre park. 31 acres of the park’s open space are suitable for development.

Source:  GrowthSpotter