Orlando-based Centre Corp is looking to convert a SoDo industrial site across from the future Pulse Memorial into a mixed-use development with up to 856 residential units.
Centre Corp, led by longtime developer Nancy A. Rossman, has applied for land-use changes from industrial to high-intensity residential and rezoning to Planned Development for the 5.7-acre site at 415 W. Kaley St., just east of the I-4 interchange. The property is the Orlando headquarters for Nassal Companies, a resort and theme park fabricator behind such projects as Legoland Florida, Infinity Falls at SeaWorld and Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
Rossman is represented by Rebecca Wilson, shareholder at Lowndes, and has engaged Baker Barrios for the Contemporary Industrial architectural design. The site stretches from S. Division Avenue to Atlanta Avenue. It would be developed in two phases and would include ground-floor commercial, live-work units, a potential library or co-working space, ground-floor amenities, a linear park and a shared parking garage.
The development team is seeking approvals for up to 150 dwelling units per acre, but it submitted two different concepts with varying levels of intensity.
One concept would be for 7-story buildings. The other, which maxes out the density, would be for 9-story buildings and could make the project one of the largest multifamily communities in the city. It would have 171 studio units, 43 large studios, 342 one-bedroom units, 214 two-bedroom units and 86 three-bedroom units, for a total of 856 units.
Baker Barrios submitted image boards showing comparable local projects for the 7-story product including the Novel Lucerne, which sold on May 31 for $137 million. The Lake House and Yard at Ivanhoe were among the comparables offered for the taller concept.
The larger residential building, pool, gym and parking garage would be constructed in Phase 1, along with the linear park and public art piece along Atlanta Avenue, about a block from the Orlando Health Arnold Palmer Hospital. A signature stairwell with iconic design and signage would be featured at the corner of the parking structure, which would be designed to accommodate 1,400 vehicles.
The second phase consists of a separate residential building with 10,000 square feet of commercial space at the hard corner of Kaley and Division. The Phase 2 building also has possible live-work units, a library/co-working space, a large leasing office and a private interior courtyard with a pool.
Rossman declined to comment on the project. The case is tentatively scheduled to go to the Municipal Planning Board on Aug. 16.
Orlando’s onePulse Foundation, which aims to build a memorial and museum honoring victims of the 2016 mass shooting at a gay nightclub, announced Tuesday it has hired a new executive director — Deborah Bowie, a 30-year veteran of the nonprofit and public sector.
A national memorial honoring the 49 killed as well as a separate museum focused on broader LGBTQ history was initially projected to open this year. The COVID-19 pandemic, which brought fundraising to a near-halt, has pushed back the timeline to 2026, in time for the 10-year Pulse remembrance. The foundation purchased the museum site at 438 West Kaley St. in 2019 for $3.5 million.
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