Planned downtown Orlando tower includes apartments, shops, live/work units
A 20-story skyscraper soon may rise from a 1.6-acre property just north of downtown Orlando.
New York-based Acram Group wants to build the mixed-use project at 924 N. Magnolia Ave., on the two-building parcel it bought for $6.7 million in 2021, according to documents filed with the city of Orlando. Based on construction industry standards, the project would cost at least $54 million.
Currently, the land is home to a pair of three-story, 17,800-square-foot office buildings at 924 and 934 N. Magnolia Ave. These would be razed to make way for the new project.
The development will have 386 apartments, including live/work units, and 15,548 square feet of retail space. In addition, its ground-floor offerings would feature a public, elevated plaza and garden with 8,522 square feet of retail space, a restaurant and lobbies for residential access.
An attached 8.5-story public parking garage will be built at the southwest corner of the property. An amenity level with a pool, pavilion, dog walk area and other perks will be carved on the ninth floor.
Vanessa Vedelago of Orlando-based Baker Barrios Architects Inc. is the applicant for the project on behalf of the developer. Neither the applicant nor representatives for Acram was available for comment in time for publication.
The 20-story complex would be divided into three towers. The proposed unit breakdown for the project is 81 studios and 197 one-bedroom, 89 two-bedroom and 19 three-bedroom units.
The documents tout the project’s use of design, an architectural screen on the parking garage and hanging planters all as working to create a development that adds to the neighborhood in which it will rise.
Other entities involved include the Orlando office of engineering firm Kimley-Horn and Winter Garden-based professional surveying company Allen & Co. Inc.
The master plan request for the project is slated to go before the city of Orlando’s municipal planning board on Aug. 16.
Lisa McNatt, director of market analytics in Orlando for CoStar Group, recently told Orlando Business Journal it is not surprising that downtown and surrounding areas remains a popular destination for high-end multifamily products, especially given the renter profile it tends to attract. “There is going to be a share of the rental population driven to experiential living. It offers additional appeal you can’t find in suburban products.”
What’s more, StorageCafe, a subsidiary of Santa Barbara, California-based real estate data firm Yardi, ranked Orlando fifth among U.S. cities that built the largest share of luxury rentals over the last decade. According to the report, of the 30,953 units added to Orlando’s supply since 2012, 97% qualify as luxury.
These units tend to have more space — 140 square feet more, on average, the report notes — and more resort-like amenities.
Orlando is the only city from Florida in the top 10, with markets in Arizona, Texas and Virginia accounting for eight of the other nine slots.
The downtown Orlando multifamily submarket — which includes the proposed development on North Magnolia Avenue — has seen 787 apartments delivered in the past 12 months and 1,907 under construction, according to CoStar Group. The submarket has had positive absorption over the past 12 months of 1,386 units, which ranks third among submarkets in the region.
The submarket has an average vacancy rate of 7.2% and an average monthly apartment rent of $2,018, or $2.27 per square foot, which is top among metro Orlando submarkets. In comparison, the overall region has an average vacancy rate of 4.8% and an average monthly rent of $1,820.
Source: Orlando Business Journal, Steven Ryzewski Staff Writer, Orlando Business Journal