Osceola inks deal for $1B NeoCity town center
Osceola County has sealed the deal with South Korean tech billionaire Young-hwa Song to sell up to 70 acres in NeoCity for a future mixed-use town center that will combine luxury living with shops and restaurants and a new performing arts center on the lakefront, according to a report in GrowthSpotter.
County Manager Don Fisher signed the agreement Friday, after which it was flown to South Korea for Song’s signature. Fisher told GrowthSpotter the final agreement does not have to go back to the County Commission for approval because they had already agreed to the preliminary terms in September.
Song’s DSUS Group LLC will pay $565,000 per acre for the first 25 acres, for a total of $14.125 million, and it holds the exclusive negotiating rights for an additional 45 acres at a price to be determined later. There was one substantive change from the preliminary terms: the minimum investment required by the developer to fulfill his obligations was reduced from $1.2 billion to $900 million.
“That doesn’t mean they’re not going to invest $1.2 billion,” Fisher said, noting that the language was added to protect the developer in the case the project costs come in slightly below the initial amount. “That was just a matter of being cautious. I believe it will be more than that.”
The development program hasn’t changed. It calls for more than 3.14 million square feet of new construction, with 55% slated for residential use and 45% for commercial.
Plans include 1,150 condominiums with nearly 400,000 square feet of amenities and common space as well as a 1.4 million-square-foot retail and entertainment hub situated along the lakefront in Neocity. There also would be 23,200 square feet of cafes and restaurants throughout the property, and potentially even an urban farm component.
The town center would include a commercial office tower, a dining and retail center with a movie theater, a 200-room conference hotel with about 100,000 square feet of convention/exhibition space and an entertainment hall with a 700-seat performing arts center.
“This is super-exciting. This, to me, is what we needed because this is the western part of NeoCity,” Commissioner Cheryl Grieb said, noting that the semiconductor fabrication center, the office building and STEM school are on the east side of the tech district. “People need to have a place where they can envision living, shopping and dining. This will help complete the picture.”
Design documents and construction plans will be filed and approved in less than a year, and the actual closing would take place on Dec. 13, 2022. Construction of Phase 1 would start in early 2023.
To read the complete story about this deal and other stories about early-stage development in Central Florida, go to Growth Spotter.com and subscribe.