Land near SeaWorld could include affordable housing
A vacant site near SeaWorld is being prepped for possible multifamily development that would include affordable housing to increase its marketability.
Commercial broker Richard Kurban, with RKommercial Group, has submitted a pre-application in Orange County, seeking the feasibility to build up to 172 units on 5.37 acres of uplands on the 11000 block of International Drive, south of the intersection with Central Florida Parkway.
The property is part of a larger assemblage owned by Treasure Cove Vacation Club LLC, led by Gary Houghton and father George Houghton, founder and chairman of the family holding company GH Group based out of England.
In total, the LLC controls almost 20 acres across from the Discovery Cove theme park. which is owned by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. Roughly 12 acres of the property are made up of mitigated wetlands, meaning any new development that comes in will have wetlands already permitted.
For more than a decade, the property owners have tried different development scenarios on the site.
The Houghtons acquired the two parcels between 2006 and 2007 with plans for an assisted living facility and later opted to sit on the asset through the recession.
In 2013, they engaged Amr Gawad of True Engineering and Consulting to design conceptual hotel plans with the goal of finding a joint venture partner.
According to a previous article by GrowthSpotter, the family spent millions in the acquisition, design and engineering, and tax maintenance on the property. In 2015, the Houghtons and Miami investor Charles Newman, a former JV partner, tried to develop an 11-story condominium hotel through the EB-5 program. The project, called Treasure Cove Hotel & Plaza, never took off.
The most recent application, submitted by land planner Doug Kelly with England-Thims & Miller Inc., states the team would like to discuss a potential Future Land Use change from Activity Center Mixed Use (ACMU) to Activity Center Residential (ACR) “to maximize multifamily residential development with an affordable housing bonus option.”
At 30 dwelling units per acre, a developer would be able to build 172 multifamily residential units since no retail will go up and a secondary access lane to Central Florida Parkway is building, according to the application.