The Sevens Downtown Orlando Groundbreaking

City of Orlando officials joined leaders from The Pizzuti Cos. LLC for The Sevens Downtown Orlando groundbreaking ceremony yesterday.

The Sevens will be a mixed-use building project in the North Quarter district of Downtown Orlando. The Sevens groundbreaking was originally set to take place earlier this year. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Pizzuti President Joel Pizzuti joined business and community leaders on Nov. 13 to toss the ceremonial dirt at the site at 777 N. Orange Ave.

The Sevens groundbreaking, which has an estimated cost of about $42.6 million and being developed by Pizzuti, spans almost the entire block on Orange Ave between Park Lake St and Colonial Drive (stopping just short of Colonial). The building is slated to include 333 luxury apartments, 9,500 square feet of retail space on the ground level, a rooftop pool deck, a dog park, and an integrated parking garage. The retail space will be along Orange Ave on the northern half of the building.

A project like this creates hundreds of temporary construction jobs, as well as some permanent jobs at the apartments and retail, plus also offering new, upscale apartments to professionals in the area. Naeem Coleman, Manager of Economic Development for Pizzuti, expects a restaurant and service retail to occupy the space.

“The Sevens will be a luxury 9 story building with the amenity area on the top floor. This will give us amazing views of the southern skyline while offering a neighborhood feel,” Coleman said.

The building is scheduled to be completed in early 2016. The project dates back to December 2008 when Pizutti first proposed an 11-story office building on the 2.6-acre site, but the plan shifted to apartments two years ago.

Source: “The Sevens breaks ground in the North Quarter district downtown,” Bungalower; and “Pizzuti breaks ground on downtown Orlando apartments,” Orlando Business Journal.