Blurock Commercial Real Estate has spent the last four years quietly assembling nearly seven acres of contiguous property along S. Orange, Magnolia and Rosalind avenues for its second mixed-use development in the hot SoDo submarket.
Blurock affiliate Southern Oaks Development LLC paid over $5 million in 11 separate transactions to assemble the parcels that comprise two full city blocks across from Drennen Road. The site is immediately south of The Mark at Sodo apartments and about two blocks south of ECCO on Orange, the LeCesse apartments that were built on another Blurock assemblage at the corner of Orange and Pineloch avenues.
On that project, Blurock partnered with Intram Investments to assemble 18 parcels for the “Lucky’s Corner” mixed-use project, which was anchored by a Lucky’s Market niche grocery store. Publix took over the lease when Lucky’s filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection earlier this year.
Blurock Principal Joseph Schuemann met recently with City of Orlando staff to discuss possible annexation of the property, which is contiguous to the city. During the meeting, he and his representatives presented two possible development scenarios mixing multifamily residential and medical offices on the property.
One plan by Forum Architecture shows a 4-story apartment building with two interior courtyards, attached by a 5-level parking garage. The community would consist of 280 residential units with leasing and amenities on the ground floor and a pool in the larger of the two courtyards. The .8-acre parcel east of Rosalind would be utilized for stormwater retention. The southwest corner of the property would be reserved for a medical office building.
Here, the developer could build a 20,000-square-foot MOB with surface parking or a 3-story, 31,000-square-foot MOB with structured parking.
Blurock provided an alternate site plan created by Humphreys & Partners that shows a pair of 3-story mixed-use buildings fronting on S. Orange Avenue with a 5-story apartment building between Magnolia and Rosalind. The apartment units (172) would wrap a 5-level parking garage with 380 spaces. The parcel east of Rosalind would have a 3-story apartment building with 36 units.
The commercial buildings would each have 7,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and 14,000 square feet of offices on the second and third floors. They would utilize surface parking and have access to the parking garage.
Blurock has enlisted high-powered lobbying firm, The Southern Group, and partner Kelly Cohen to advise on the project. Schuemann declined to speak with GrowthSpotter for this article.
The project is just outside of Orlando’s SoDo Neighhood Improvement District (NID), which is undergoing a transition from its industrial roots to a vibrant mixed-use district anchored by the growing Orlando Health campus. The 720-acre district is slated to receive $20 million in infrastructure improvements, led by the reconstruction of Orange Avenue from Gore Street to Pineloch Avenue.
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