Wood Partners’ Alta at Lake Eve to Debut in Orlando
If Wood Partners has its way, more renters are likely to be visiting Disney World in the years ahead. Wood Partners announced plans to build Alta at Lake Eve, a 264-unit luxury apartment community a mere two miles from Disney World.
By Jeffrey Steele, Contributing Writer
Orlando, Fla.—If Wood Partners LLC has its way, more renters are likely to be visiting Walt Disney World in the years ahead. That’s because Wood Partners, one of the nation’s largest developers of multifamily communities, just announced plans to build Alta at Lake Eve, a 264-unit luxury apartment community a mere two miles from Disney World.
The project, projected to cost $32.7 million, will rise on a 9.7-acre parcel Wood Partners recently purchased. Construction will begin in December; first move-ins are slated to take place next September and the community should be completed by March, 2013. This will be Wood Partners’ 10th multifamily project in Orlando and its 27th since 1998 in the Sunshine State.
The location, timing and product make sense, reports Charles Barrus, regional development director for Wood Partners’ South Region, covering Florida, the Carolinas, Georgia and southern Virginia. “Investors and lenders are showing a strong interest in new apartment developments in cities throughout the southeast, including Orlando, where a stabilized economy has combined with lower development costs and historically low levels of new supply to deliver attractive returns for new projects,” he says.
Orlando, the world’s largest tourist destination, boasts occupancy rates of more than 95 percent, and the pipeline of new rentals is exceptionally constrained. In late 2010, about 1,500 units were under construction, a paltry figure when compared to the annual average rate of more than 6,000 units between 1996 and 2007.
An enviable International Drive site and adjacency to two other Wood Partners projects, Alta at Little Lake Bryan and Patterson Court, also bode well for the fortunes of this new community, notes David Thompson, a Wood Partners director of development.
Alta at Lake Eve isn’t just close to Disney World. It’s well positioned for quick and easy trips to other Orlando-area attractions as well. The community is no more than five miles from Sea World, Universal Studios and the Orange County Convention Center. Residents will be able to conveniently access Orlando International Airport and the Medical City at Lake Nona by means of the Central Florida Greenway.
Alta at Lake Eve will offer units sized to fit just about any renter’s needs. The range of apartments extends from one-bedroom, one-bath units to three-bedroom, two-bath apartment homes. The apartments will feature superior finishes and features, including wood laminate flooring and in-unit washers and dryers. A swimming pool, courtyard, on-site fitness center with top-shelf cardio equipment, as well as a state-of-the-art clubroom with WiFi access, TVs and entertaining area are among the amenities.
Wood Florida Builders LLC, the Florida construction group of Wood Builders, will handle the construction. The architect on the project is Charlan Brock & Associates, while HSBC Bank USA, N.A. provided the construction financing.
