The area around Kelly Park Road in Apopka has been on David McDaniel’s radar for more than a decade, long before development activity began sprouting up along the corridor.
“I’ve been looking at this quadrant for probably 10 or 15 years,” the President of Integra Land Company, one of the most active multifamily developers in the Orlando market, told GrowthSpotter. “It just wasn’t ready yet.”
He was waiting for the state’s transportation department to deliver on plans to bring S.R. 429, also known as the Wekiva Parkway, through this segment of Northwest Orange County. Twenty-three miles of that $1.6 billion project opened to traffic in 2022.
That same year, Integra Land Company went under contract for 15 acres near the new interchange. And now, the Lake Mary-based company is almost ready to start building a 300-unit apartment community with its longtime partner Panther Residential Management.
After the Apopka city commission approved the master development plan for Integra’s project on May 3, Panther Residential bought the land located between Round Lake Road and Effie Drive, just west of S.R. 429, for $9 million. Panther will manage the asset once it’s complete.
Construction is expected to start in the first quarter of 2024.
“I think this location is ideal for us from a number of fronts,” McDaniel said. “Primarily, there is not a large number of exits off the 429 in that area between 46 and Maitland, so Kelly Park Road was logically the most attractive place to try to find the right opportunity. …I think just from a long-term growth perspective, it’s one of the few places remaining in Orlando in the beginning of its growth curve rather than the end of its growth curve.”
The property is part of the Crossroads at Kelly Park master-planned development, which was assembled several years ago by Clearwater-based developer Mike Galvin and has entitlements for more than 600 multifamily units and more than 750 single-family homes across 200 acres.
Jacksonville-based Dream Finders Homes is building 175 of the single-family homes after acquiring 113 acres of Galvin’s land on Sept. 12 for $10.3 million. Galvin will build the rest of the homes.
Meanwhile, DHI Communities, the multifamily affiliate of America’s largest homebuilder D.R Horton, is under contract to develop 324 apartment units within Crossroads at Kelly Park.
The master development plan for the DHI project was also approved by the Apopka City Commission on the same date they signed off plans by Integra Land Company for adjacent property to the east. Both items passed unanimously with little discussion and without comments from the applicants.
Integra Land Company has plans to build six, four-story elevator-serviced apartment buildings with 2.4 acres of open space set aside for a park, dog park, pool and clubhouse. According to site plans drafted by engineering firm Poulos and Bennett, the community will also feature a three-story carriage house concept that can accommodate two units.
The carriage house will include a garage and a top-floor loft, according to architecture firm Charlan Brock, which is leading the project’s design.
Terri Willis, project manager with Charlan Brock, said amenities will include a yoga room with lots of light and high ceilings, a game room, a lounge, mail kiosk, a dog spa, and pool with a pavilion.
“The architecture is modern with parapets and a mix of lap siding and panel materials,” she said.
The apartment community, Integra at Kelly Park, will consist of 131 one-bedroom/ studio units, 134 two-bedroom units and 35 three-bedroom units, according to site plans.
Crossroads at Kelly Park sits across the street from where Evans Properties is planning to put Apopka’s largest mixed-use project ever with 3,000 multifamily units, 1.1 million square feet of non-residential office/commercial/retail uses, and up to 1.8 million square feet of industrial space.
Wyld Oaks will span 250 acres and also include a performance stage for live concerts and comedy shows, a farmer’s market and specialty grocer, two hotels, convenience stores, coffee houses, a craft brewery, multiple restaurants, and a gym.
Apopka’s Kelly Park Interchange District has been booming with development of late.
In recent months:
- Atlanta-based Pulte Group purchased 24 acres on the east side of S.R. 429 for $3.9 million with plans to add another 85 homes to its Winding Meadows subdivision. Winding Meadows currently spans 179 lots and homes are available for sale, according to the company’s website.
- California-based homebuilder KB Home submitted plans to the city for 150 townhomes and 27 detached homes on 45 acres at the southwest intersection of Kelly Park Road and Chandler Road. That amounts to 5 units per acre.
- California-based Landsea Homes closed on a 39-acre site off Kelly Park Road for $2.75 million with plans to build a 113-lot subdivision called Oak View. Land development. Land development is anticipated to begin this spring and sales are slated to begin in early 2024, according to a news release from the homebuilder.
- Minnesota-based Summergate Development filed plans to the city for a 79-home large-lot subdivision on 41 acres of property to the immediate west of the Rock Springs Golf Course community, east of Plymouth Sorrento Road. The company bought the land this week for $6.2 million.
Integra Land Company has been active in the Orlando market.
In Four Corners, the company is planning to build a 280-unit Class A apartment community along Bali Boulevard that entails converting a deserted former call center into a clubhouse and amenity center.
The developer, in March, purchased property near Olympus at Wellness Way in Clermont for $8.8 million where it intends to put a 330-unit community called Integra Groves.
In Lake Nona, the developer is also building Integra Towers Nona South along Boggy Creek Road, just south of Lake Nona’s Medical City.
Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at (407)-800-1161 or dwyatt@GrowthSpotter.com. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
