Charlotte-based developer Crosland Southeast is under contract to purchase 14.5 acres of vacant land along the future Westwood Boulevard extension that is expected to pave the way for more than 250 acres of new development projects.
The company recently submitted development plans to build up to 350 multifamily units at Vistana Palm Beach Drive. Access into the community would exist on the future Westwood Boulevard extension, which will connect to International Drive in Orlando’s tourism corridor and the Daryl Carter Parkway extension currently under construction.
A conceptual Land Development Plan shows the Crosland Westwood project will consists of a gated seven-building multifamily community that features a clubhouse and pool. Some rental units will feature water views, according to the plans. The community is being designed to accommodate up to 550 parking spaces.
The current owner, Rita J. Friedman, bought the property in 1995 for $345,000.
Ray Turchi of Marcus & Millichap is representing the seller. He also represents Shingle Creek Co-Owners LLC , which acts as a vehicle for a conglomerate of investors that together own nearly 600 acres of land immediately east of where Crosland is looking to build its multifamily community.
About 250 acres of the assemblage is developable.
It’s surrounded by preservation land that is managed by the South Florida Water Management District. The assemblage, called International Crossings, is on the market asking for $69 million, though it could also be sold in parts, according to marketing material released by Marcus & Millichap.
Turchi said Shingle Creek Co-Owners LLC is near completing the permitting process for International Crossings. He said he expects development to materialize within the next two years, once permits are in hand. The construction of the future Westwood Boulevard expansion will be a cooperating effort between those developers and Orange County.
Brandon Hueber, vice president of development at Crosland Southeast in Orlando, declined to share details of the project, but said the firm intends to pursue “several market-rate and mixed-income multifamily residential developments in Central Florida in the coming months.”
Crosland Southeast established an office in Orlando earlier this year. Its managing partner, Tim Sittema, is the twin brother of Tom Sittema, who is the former CEO of CNL Financial Group and current managing director of Winter Park-based Riverbridge Capital.
The property it has under contract sits less than three miles away from Disney’s theme parks and attractions.
Barry Sternlicht’s Starwood Hotels & Resorts owns the nearby Sheraton Vistana Villages Resort Villas. Plans for a third phase of the resort, which would have added 734 timeshare units directly west of Crosland’s parcel under contract, were approved in 2015 but never came to fruition.
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