Orange County approves $5M deal with Universal Orlando
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and county commissioners signed off on a plan Tuesday to spend up to $5 million helping Universal Orlando develop another theme park.
Under the deal, Orange County and Universal will split the cost of relocating a wastewater pipe that runs through the land upon which Universal plans to build Epic Universe,
the company’s third theme park in Orlando.
The deal had sparked criticism from some activists who said Universal — owned by Comcast Corp., the cable-and-entertainment conglomerate that turned a $13.1 billion profit last year — could afford to pay for the work itself. It also came seven months after Demings and the commission approved a separate deal to give Universal up to $125 million to pay for a new road through the property.
Demings brushed aside the criticism, calling it a sensible agreement because Universal will replace an aging-but-important piece of infrastructure that the county would have had to replace eventually anyway.
Universal said it will spend between $13 and $14 million relocating the pipe. Orange County will give the resort up to $5 million in credit against future county fees.
County staffers told commissioners that the deal was in line with similar infrastructure-replacement deals they have struck with other developers over the years.
“Probably if this name didn’t have ‘Universal’ on it, it would likely have been a non-issue,” Demings said. “It’s a good deal, that’s the bottom line.”
One commissioner — Emily Bonilla — questioned staff about the deal. It then passed unanimously.
The Universal agreement was one of several economic development spending measures Demings and commissioners approved Tuesday, even as the COVID-19 recession begins to squeeze the county’s finances.
They also awarded a tax break to SIMCOM Aviation Training, a flight-simulator company owned
by multinational training corporation CAE Inc. that is building a new facility in the Tavistock Group’s Lake Nona development.
County officials said the tax break would save SIMCOM between $90,000 and $245,000 over the next three years. The size of the savings depends in part on a more generous deal the company — which will also get incentives from the city of Orlando and the state of Florida — is negotiating with Space Florida that could completely exempt its high-priced simulators from property taxes.
“This was a very competitive project,” said Orange County Economic Development Administrator Eric Ushkowitz.
In addition, county commissioners agreed to spend $50,000 on a “bid fee” to U.S. Soccer in hopes that the organization will agree to stage World Cup qualifying matches at Exploria Stadium either this fall or in fall 2021. And they launched a new program meant to stimulate more construction by waiving building permit fees for the next six months for both residential and commercial construction. County officials said the idea for the incentive program, which will be capped at $100,000 per project and $10 million overall, arose out of discussions with lobbying groups representing homebuilders, apartment developers, contractors and commercial property owners.
Building permit fees for a single-family home average about $1,600. There is no requirement that developers pass the savings on to customers — like homebuyers or apartment tenants.
Alan Plante, the manager of Orange County’s building safety division, told commissioners that the primary goal was to stimulate construction activity and create jobs. But he added, “It’s our hope that the benefits of this program get passed on to the individual owners or occupants.”
Separately, county commissioners also tentatively approved the mayor’s recommended $4.8 billion budget. Demings’ proposed spending plan includes an extra $15 million — and an additional 27 positions — for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office. Under friendly questioning from Demings, Orange County Sheriff John Mina warned county commissioners against shrinking the sheriff’s office budget. Black Lives Matter and other anti-brutality activists have urged policymakers to reduce spending on police and reroute the money to other community services, from affordable housing to mental health support.
“I don’t think it would be prudent to defund or cut our budget,” Mina said.