Colombian developer plans condo-hotel near Universal
Colombian developer Zicav Group is eyeing one of the last vacant lots near Universal Studios for a 17-story tower.
Zicav Group CEO Carlos Silva held a pre-application meeting with Orlando planning staff in July and submitted conceptual plans for the project called GZ Tower Orlando slated for 5600 Major Blvd.
Several members of Orlando-based construction company SkyBuilders USA and engineer Quang Lam also attended the meeting. SkyBuilders has worked on several high-profile projects in the tourism corridor, including TopGolf and Mango’s Tropical Cafe.
Maria Luisa Lord, a Colombia-born attorney and co-founder of Lord & Lord Consulting, told GrowthSpotter she helped bring all the parties together for the project during the firm’s Annual Florida Business Convention last year. Lord specializes in assisting Latin American companies to enter the U.S. market, and she established a Florida-based LLC for Zicav Group in 2021.
“He builds beautiful apartments and commercial buildings in Barranquilla,” she said. “They are mini-condos with luxury finishes, and he came looking for an opportunity to develop something here.”
The developer currently operates GZ Tower in Colombia, which leases furnished apartments and studios for days, weeks or months at a time. Lord said he plans to open a similar tower here in Orlando. The 1.74-acre lot known as the Sabeti parcel is surrounded by hotels.
The pie-shaped parcel has just 110 feet of frontage on Major Boulevard, so the conceptual plan shows the 17-story tower at the back of the property, with 11 levels of residential use over a six-story parking garage. Each residential floor would have 11 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, totaling 111 units.
The ground level plan shows a lobby and reception area, management office, co-working space and security room. A separate 4-story amenity building at the front of the property would house the residents’ lounge/social area, fitness center and leasing office.
The outdoor amenities are in the middle of the property. The plan shows a large swimming pool and deck with a fountain, shade cabanas, a playground, kiosks, a Turkish sauna and a tiki bar.
Apartments planned for Storey Park
Storey Park, the Lennar masterplanned community near Lake Nona, will be getting its first apartment complex right across from the amenity center and observation tower.
Winter Park-based Epoch Residential has filed a plan with Orlando to build 324 apartments on the half-moon-shaped parcel on Biography Way south of Dowden Road. The 13.7-acre site is designated for future development in the Storey Park Planned Development.
The conceptual site plan from Charlan Brock Architects calls for a mix of carriage units and 4-story and 5-story buildings, with the tallest buildings on a parking podium and in the center of the community forming a U-shaped courtyard for the community pool. The clubhouse will be incorporated into that central building.
Two of the buildings fronting Dowden will have tuck-under tandem parking, and a total of 20 carriage house units will be spread among four two-story buildings. The unit breakdown includes 26 studios, 138 one-bedroom units, 128 two-bedroom units and 32 three-bedroom units.
Lennar is completing its roughly 330-acre Storey Park development, which features a mix of approximately 1,140 different home sites, including townhomes and cottages. The homebuilder has approximately 422 available homesites remaining, according to its website.
Just a quarter-mile down the road, Cornerstone Group affiliate Brookstone Partners is pre-leasing its 385-unit Urbon at Nona apartment homes at the southeast corner of Dowden and S.R. 417.