Jefferson Apartment Group Breaks Ground in Orlando

2302 Ocoee Apopka Road. Image courtesy of Jefferson Apartment Group

Jefferson Apartment Group has begun its construction of a new eight-building, 304-unit garden-style luxury community located at 2302 Ocoee Apopka Road in Apopka, Fla. A loan for the project’s construction, scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2024, was provided by Wells Fargo.

The community will be located on the bank of the private Medicine Lake, and its buildings will be connected through landscaped walking trails and green space. Unit amenities will include stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, plank flooring, private balconies and washers and dryers, while the community will offer a fitness center, a clubhouse, a swimming pool, a lakeview deck, an outdoor kitchen and a playground. The development will be located adjacent to the SR-429 Western Beltway, placing it near many affluent Orlando suburbs, as well as within 15 miles of the city center.

Orlando trends upward

Following two rocky years of declines and sharp increases in nearly all metrics of its multifamily sector, the Orlando market is poised to retain its newfound stability, as central and South Florida-based urban areas remain the fastest growing markets in the Sun Belt, and one of the nation’s most robust rental markets. The city’s average rent has climbed to $1,796, nearly $500 over the national average, with nearly all submarkets posting double-digit growth year-to-date as of May 2022, according to Yardi Matrix data.

Jefferson Apartment Group President & CEO Jim Butz contextualized the development of the community, telling Multi-Housing News, “The continued new job growth in the metro, and the post Covid stabilization of Disney, has created demand for quality communities to house Florida residents. Given the increase in the mortgage interest rates and the impact on homeownership, providing well located, amenitized housing, will be a benefit to new employers locating in Orlando.”

A July 2022 Yardi Matrix report shows that the city has 21,744 units in its pipeline, with the majority of them being upscale, alongside 110,000 units in the planning stages. The city’s sales volume of $3.8 billion places it in the top 10 in the nation. Still, completions have seen some deceleration, in part due to rising construction costs and interest rates, the report concedes.

Another luxury development currently underway in Orlando is Thompson Thrift Residential’s reveal of Canter, a 320-unit garden-style project in Ocala.