Crescent Breaks Ground on Downtown Orlando Community
Work has started on Crescent Central Station in downtown Orlando. Developer Crescent Communities says the 279-unit TOD apartment community will be completed by early 2015.
By Dees Stribling, Contributing Writer
Orlando—Work has started on Crescent Central Station in downtown Orlando. According to the developer, Charlotte-based Crescent Communities, the 279-unit apartment complex will be completed by early 2015.
The transit-oriented development will encompass more than two acres at the corner of Amelia Street and Orange Ave. in Orlando’s CBD. The TOD component comes from the fact that site is adjacent to a SunRail commuter train station. SunRail is the commuter rail system currently under construction in greater Orlando. The first phase will run more than 30 miles with 17 stations and is due for completion later this year. A second phase is slated for completion in 2016.
The six-story building will include studios and one-, two-, and three-bedroom units as well as brownstone-style residences on the ground floor. Common amenities include a two-story fitness center, a resort-style pool, and a rooftop terrace with a sundeck, and an outdoor movie projector screen. Crescent’s plans also include 12,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor of Crescent Central Station.
Crescent is no stranger to the central Florida multifamily market. It recently opened Crescent Crosstown in Tampa, and Crescent Bayshore will to open there this spring. In January, Crescent said it was starting a new phase of Oakland Park outside Orlando.
According to investment specialist Marcus & Millichap, multifamily completions in metro Orlando will outpace demand in 2014 for the first time in a number of years, but in the case of downtown Orlando, “new rentals will arrive during a period of favorable demand trends.” Namely, more people want to live in downtown areas than previously, including downtown Orlando, and more young people are now moving to Orlando.
The Crescent Central Station project is financed by an equity investment from Crescent Communities, with construction financing by Synovus Bank and Nationwide. Winter Park Construction is the general contractor, and Lord Aeck Sargent the project architect.