Miami-based Royal Palm Companies is kicking off 2023 with two new multifamily projects planned for opposite sides of Orlando — one near Valencia College and UCF’s main campus and another along Boggy Creek Road at the Osceola County line.
Kamil Salame, a managing partner with RPC, is named in a trio of rezoning applications submitted to Orange County on Dec. 30 with requests to change the land use for a total of 75.3 acres.
The majority of that acreage is located south of E. Colonial Drive, between Econlockhatchee Trail and Dean Road where Royal Palm Companies is seeking approval to build as many as 600 apartment dwelling units. If approved, the project would use land that’s currently occupied by the 62-unit Lake Downey Mobile Home Park owned by Chaines Land Trust. It will also use a 44.5- acre tract that stretches to both sides of the Little Econlockhatchee River, according to application materials filed by Kimley-Horn.
This parcel, just north of Valencia College’s east campus, is owned by Pique Land Trust and the family of Sima Jain, a local doctor.
Salame was not immediately available for comment Tuesday.
The other rezoning request lodged by RPC involves land on the opposite side of Orange County, at its southern boundary.
The company is eyeing a 17.7-acre assemblage on the north side of Simpson Road, just west of Boggy Creek Road, for a 360-unit apartment community. One of four parcels in this assemblage currently holds a church called Centro Cristiano Genesis and is owned by an entity titled Genesis Christian Center of Orlando. The other parcels, owned by Ralph Jeudy and Mary Wicker, are undeveloped.
Royal Palm is under contract to acquire the parcels, according to county records.
The property is currently designated Rural (R) on the county’s Future Land Use Map and is zoned A-2 on the County’s Official Zoning Map. Eric Raasche with the planning firm S&ME said in a letter to county officials that the proposed land-use change is consistent with the surrounding area.
“The corridor is characterized by a mix of uses that include multi-family residential, commercial, institutional, and single-family residential,” he wrote on Sept. 13. “As such, the area is no longer rural in character and will be improved with multifamily residential, single-family residential, and commercial uses that are either planned or under construction.”
Royal Palm’s multifamily proposal along Boggy Creek Road joins a host of other apartment projects underway on this busy corridor.
All told, 315,000 square feet of commercial space and more than 2,000 apartment units are in the development pipeline for an area less than a mile south of Lake Nona, the 40th best-selling master-planned community in the nation, according to RCLCO Real Estate Consulting.
To the east of the property eyed by Royal Palm, Atlanta-based Watkins Real Estate Group is building out its 310-unit The Landings at Boggy Creek. The upscale apartment community is expected to open by the summer of 2023, according to its website.
Ralph Singleton’s 80-acre Tyson Ranch mixed-use site sits to the north of the Watkins multifamily project. Here, townhomes by MI Homes are underway and Birmingham-based Arlington Properties has snagged land for a multifamily project. Recently, Singleton has filed plans for another 297 multifamily units as well as two six-story hotels with a combined total of 250 rooms.
On the opposite side of Boggy Creek Road, land investors Jim Dowd and Daryl Carter are getting ready to hand off some of the 22 acres they own to a Texas-based developer with plans to build two separate multifamily projects totaling 638 units.
Founded in 1978, Royal Palm Companies has delivered more than 6,000 units across mixed-use developments, multi-family, residences, and hospitality assets totaling over $3.5 billion in managed and completed projects to date, with over $2 billion in the pipeline.
The company’s portfolio includes the recently completed and internationally renowned Paramount Miami Worldcenter, which is the second largest master-planned urban project in the United States, according to RPC’s website.
Locally, RPC is planning to build a mixed-use project in Sanford called Tuscany Village that will include a luxury 462-bed apartment community and future commercial space.
Located along the south side of State Road 46, Tuscany Village will feature seven, four-story multifamily buildings with 60 units a piece, according to site plans. Each L-shaped building will contain interior hallways and elevators and a mix of one, two, and three-bedroom units averaging approximately 975 square feet.
Four of the residential buildings, along with an 8,000 square-foot 1-story clubhouse, will surround a pond on the southeast site of the property. The clubhouse will feature a 24/7 fitness center, indoor pet grooming, a co-working business center with five private offices and a conference room, a clubroom with a demonstration kitchen and curated original artwork.
The clubhouse will lead out to a resort-style, 2,200 square-foot pool with spa, cabanas, a summer kitchen and daybeds.
A dog park with benches and an activity lawn will accompany building 5 in the center of the apartment community. Buildings 6 and 7, on the far west end, will be separated by a landscaped courtyard with grills, soft seating, work spaces, and family dining areas.
The apartments will have private balconies, walk-in closets, full-size washers/dryers; and feature high-end finishes throughout, including plank-style flooring, chef-inspired stainless steel appliance packages, and electronic entryway locks, according to city documents.
Plans for Tuscany Village also set aside 2.2 acres of space facing S.R. 46 for future commercial development. Both parcels, separated by an operating auto service center, could hold retail, office space or other permitted uses at a minimum of 10,000 square feet.
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