One of the last vacant properties in Waterford Lakes is being primed for senior housing

Local developer Carlos Alberto Rivero is seeking to secure one of the last vacant development sites in Orlando’s Waterford Lakes neighborhood where he intends to develop a senior housing project.

Rivero, president of Orlando-based Cafe Construction & Development Inc., is under contract to purchase about 1.8 acres of land at 707 Woodbury Road.

He told GrowthSpotter he is seeking entitlements to develop a market-rate senior housing complex with a mix of one- and two-bedroom units. A preliminary meeting with Orange County planning officials discussing the rezoning of the property took place last week.

Submitted plans show the developer would need to amend the Future Land Use designation to allow for a more dense residential project. If approved, the rezoning and land use change would clear the way for Rivero to build up to 63 units across one or more five-story buildings.

He said it would be the company’s first senior housing development. The firm typically specializes in retail and industrial developments and also provides construction services.

“The need we’re seeing for senior housing, it’s only going to keep increasing,” Rivero said. "Some conceptual renderings are being worked out right now with the architecture firm we contracted, but we really won’t know [exact details] until probably later this summer.”

The developer hired Scott+Cormia to begin designing the schematic work.

Stankay Engineering Group is the civil engineer. Locklin & Associates Inc. is the surveyor and Mike Tannous Engineering is the geotechnical engineer.

The deal for the transaction is expected to close this week. The seller is an affiliate of MPI Group, which is an investment and development firm based out of Toronto Canada. Records show the firm has owned the land for almost 30 years.

The land sits on the southeast corner of Lake Underhill Road and Woodbury Road, next to Discovery Middle School.

Ryan Kingry and Chuck Holliday of Jamison Commercial Partners brokered the deal.

Holliday said the property received a high amount of interest thanks to its proximity to the Waterford Lakes Town Center and Lockheed Martin’s east Orlando campus at 100 Global Innovation Circle.

“There’s only a few places left to develop in the area,” Holliday said.

Rivero mirrored the sentiment.

“We found the piece of property was the last nice piece of vacant land in the Waterford Lakes PD,” he said. “We jumped on [the opportunity]. It’s an incredible location.”

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