An announcement from Craig Ustler, president and CEO of Ustler Development Inc., confirmed that development on the 68-acre, $1 billion Creative Village will begin this week.
“We start construction on Creative Village on May 14,” said Ustler at the May 6 Seminole Tech event. “I know it’s been a long time coming, but you’ll see about $13 million worth of infrastructure work on the bus route and all of the building paths will start to take shape.”
UCF’s $207 million downtown campus will be just part of the mixed use, urban infill neighborhood, with high tech, digital media and creative companies expected to add to the “live, work, learn and play” lifestyle planned for the community.
A “high quality, sustainable neighborhood development will support a diverse and dynamic mix of uses including up to 1,200,000 square feet of office/creative space, over 500,000 square feet of education space, 1,500 residential units, 150,000 square feet of retail/commercial space and 225 hotel rooms,” according to the Creative Village website.
The 2015 construction of the Creative Village includes an expansion of the Lymmo bus route to west downtown Orlando, near the Parramore district, to serve the Amway Center as well as Florida A&M University’s law school. Phase One also includes all new roads, sidewalks and lighting.
The initial phase will take about a year, and the Creative Village as a whole will take nearly two decades.
“That doesn’t sound sexy, but I can tell you from a real estate standpoint, [Phase One] is a huge deal because it makes you development ready,” adds Ustler.
When complete, the Village will be the largest transit-oriented development project in Central Florida and the largest LEED-ND development in Florida.
