With plans for a new high-rise apartment tower and office building stalled, Creative Village master developer Craig Ustler is pushing ahead with plans for a smaller, mixed-use building — the only type of project he believes is currently doable downtown.

Ustler Development and co-developer Brooke Myers with Velocity Red are seeking to expedite the purchase of the 1.2-acre lot known as “Parcel H” in the master plan to build a 7-story mixed-use building with 122 units of market-rate housing just south of Luminary Green Park. High interest rates and escalating construction costs have made larger projects difficult to finance, he says.

“As you know, there are no large-scale projects under construction in Downtown Orlando,” Ustler told GrowthSpotter. “This is because they are not viable based on current market conditions.” Ustler hopes his Parcel H project, for which he recently submitted plans to the city, will be a catalyst for planned apartments and a larger office development.

Creative Village spans 68 acres in downtown Orlando on the site of the former Amway Arena. It’s home to the downtown campuses of the University of Central Florida and Valencia College, as well as the new headquarters for EA Sports.

Ustler said his group has already filed a notice with the city to exercise the option on the property, also known as Lot 7, for the negotiated price of roughly $2.8 million. It will go before the Orlando City Council in December or January. They hope to start construction in mid-2025 and complete it in two years.

The U-shaped building is designed by Baker Barrios and features a large courtyard and open colonnade linking the park to the Dr. Phillips Academic Commons building to the south.

One of the most distinctive features is the artwork inside the building between the east and west towers that can be seen from the park.

“It is a hallway with glass windows, and then an art mural on the interior wall that is visible from the exterior,” Ustler explained. “The hallway runs along the side of the parking garage, and this is a way of screening the garage.”

The 222-space garage would be wrapped on three sides and visible from Chatham Avenue. The plan notes that the developer is budgeting $50,000 for a graphic mural or some other decorative treatment.

The plan also calls for 14,500 square feet of commercial/retail space on the ground floor and two 3,750-square-foot offices on the second floor.

Ustler said the two commercial spaces facing the park and courtyard would be reserved for a sit-down restaurant and a cafe or bakery with outdoor seating. “We are targeting lifestyle and health/wellness/fitness uses for the other spaces,” he added.

The loft office space on the second floor faces Luminary Green Park and has private outdoor covered balconies facing the park.

The apartments will be a mix of studios, one- and two-bedroom units, and the top-floor corner units will feature oversized balconies providing views of the park or the UCF campus and future Westcourt district to the south.

“The ground floor restaurant and retail spaces, as well as the outdoor spaces and the adjacent park, are amenities,” he said. “We refer to the middle outdoor and courtyard area as the ‘colonnade’ and think it is a unique feature that is a cool amenity.”

Ustler has previously completed multiple projects within Creative Village, including the UnionWest student housing tower, The Julian apartments and EA Sports.

The firm is also co-developing an affordable housing community called “The Beacon” with Atlantic Housing Partners and Banc of America CDC. Construction is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2025 on the 106-unit building at the corner of Parramore Avenue and Amelia Street.

Ustler has approved permits for Phase 2, which includes a new office building, a hotel and a 26-story mixed-use residential tower, but construction is on hold until market conditions improve.

Future development plans also include a second student housing tower south of the Beacon, which would add 600 more beds to the campus.

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