Wellington, Fla.-based The Bainbridge Companies should break ground in July on up to 322 apartment units on 16.26 acres of the former Marriott Grande Pines Golf Course, a projected $52 million investment, the company’s vice president of development for Florida told GrowthSpotter.
Bainbridge’s in-house construction division will serve as general contractor, which could begin lining up subcontractors for the project in April, once construction plans begin moving through Orange County’s approval process, said Bob Thollander on Wednesday.
Dubbed “Bainbridge Grande Pines,” the project is the third of three multi-family developments planned for the Grande Pines property by New Jersey-based Ridgewood Real Estate Partners. It bought the course’s eight parcels totaling 206.76 acres in February 2014 for $24 million, and has been rezoning and entitling the property since May 2015.
Bainbridge has a contract for its 16.26 acres, which should close once plans are fully approved by the county. Thollander declined to confirm a purchase price.
Thollander and a team of Bainbridge representatives spoke with county planners Wednesday morning about the project’s Development Plan, which is being amended and resubmitted to bring the maximum unit count up to 322.
That DP could go before Development Review Committee in March for a substantial change recommendation, and Board of County Commissioners for approval in April or May.
Bainbridge can begin preparing construction plans between March and April, which could potentially be approved by May or June. Groundbreaking is set for July, with a construction loan to be sourced from PNC Bank, a lender the developer has a relationship with from past projects, Thollander said.
Bainbridge’s property will feature a lakefront view, eight four-story buildings with elevators, detached and direct-entry garages, open park space, playground lot, resort-style pool with sundeck, lounge chairs and grilling stations, picnic area and passive lawn with patio space.
Poulos & Bennett is civil engineer on the project, Forum Architecture & Interior Design is the architect, Allen & Company is the surveyor, Universal Engineering Services is geotechnical engineer and Dix.Hite + Partners is the landscape architect.
Ridgewood got a recommendation for approval on Feb. 24 from Orange’s DRC for a DP on the second of those apartment projects, the 178-unit Westwood Reserve at Grande Pines. Set for 11.92 acres, that property is under contract to Southern Investments, a buyer that Ridgewood president Jonathan S. Grebow declined to confirm this week.
Altamonte Springs-based Picerne Development Corp. is developing the first multi-family parcel from Ridgewood, after paying $5.6 million for 16 acres in mid-December. Picerne began construction in late December on the 282-unit Oasis at Grande Pines, a projected $40 million project.
Ridgewood will sell a 107.43-acre portion of the development that’s planned for 436 single-family homes and townhouses to one residential construction group, a buyer Grebow declined to name this week.
Four commercial out-parcels fronting International Drive that total 7.38 acres will also be sold or land-leased to retail developers, along with another commercial parcel of roughly seven acres with I-Drive frontage. CBRE‘s Bobby Palta is the listing commercial broker for that property.
Development of the entire 200-plus acres of residential and commercial could near $200 million after build-out, said Grebow in an interview from late August.
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