Magic’s district ‘well over $500M’
Team’s updated master plan for entertainment center more than doubles original budget.
The Orlando Magic has filed an updated master plan for its downtown Orlando Sports + Entertainment District that’s expected to more than double the original $200 million project budget, according to a report in GrowthSpotter.
Magic Senior Vice President Joel Glass told GrowthSpotter that the mixed-use district will be built starting next year on 8.4 acres across from Amway Center.
It will now cost “well over $500 million,” he said.
The district, designed around an open pedestrian plaza through the length of the property, will contain nearly 110,000 square feet of retail space, a conference center hotel with 80,000 square feet of event space, offices, apartments and a 2,500-space parking garage.
Team executives released the reconfigured site plan and conceptual renderings to the public over a year ago, but it had not sought to amend the Planned Development with the city until this month.
The application package maintains the 2018 concept but increases the number of hotel rooms by 50 and more than doubles the amount of office space from the original 200,000 square feet to 420,000 square feet.
S+ED Director Pat Gallagher said office tower would now rise to 18 stories, which includes the ground-floor retail, multilevel parking structure and commercial office space. The Orlando Magic’s new headquarters would occupy 40,000 square feet in the office tower.
The team isn’t releasing the names of any tenants yet. Nor has it revealed the hotel brand or development partner for the apartment community.
The retail space will lean heavily on dining and entertainment. Gallagher said he’s looking for retailers that will cater to a “lunch and dinner crowd.” In addition to the ground-floor retail, there will be opportunities for renting space on rooftops within the district, he said in August.
The bottom floor of the Lshaped parking garage is proposed to function exclusively as a mobility hub featuring rideshare/ taxi staging areas and pick up and drop off lanes, according to the plan. The 310-unit apartment tower would be built atop the shared garage.
To read the full story, go to GrowthSpotter.com and subscribe.