Walmart continued its recent buying spree, scooping up prime real estate in the heart of Orlando’s tourism corridor where an immersive art and events center called AREA15 was once going.
The company paid $35 million to Cornerstone Collard Vineland, LLC, a partnership between South Florida-based The Cornerstone Group and Winter Park-based Michael Collard Properties. The transaction closed this week.
Mariel Messier, with Global Communications at Walmart, said by email Friday: “We don’t have anything to share, right now.”
The 16.4 acre parcel Walmart bought is bordered by Interstate 4 to the west, a Cheesecake Factory restaurant on the north side, Regency Village Drive to the east and Lake Street on the south side. The land is well-located between Walt Disney World and Epic Universe near the Orlando Vineland Premium Outlets, with easy access to I-4 via the new Daryl Carter Parkway interchange which opened in July.
Walmart has two supercenters within three miles of the site — to the south at 3250 Vineland Rd. in Kissimmee and the north at 8990 Turkey Lake Rd. in Orlando.
A site plan filed with Orange County shows a retail center of approximately 150,000 square feet with 648 parking spaces on the land purchased this week by Walmart for $35 million. (Conceptual plan by CPH)
A conceptual site plan filed with the county June 23 shows a retail center of approximately 150,000 square feet with 648 parking spaces. The plan was drafted by CPH Corp., a national architecture and engineering firm headquartered in Sanford. According to Walmart, supercenters average about 178,000 square feet, discount stores about 104,000 square feet, Neighborhood Markets about 42,000 square feet and Sam’s Clubs nearly 134,000 square feet.
Michael Collard, president of Michael Collard Properties, confirmed to GrowthSpotter on Friday that the property was sold but would not provide additional details about the transaction or if Walmart approached his company about buying the land. He said his company would not be involved with the property going forward.
AREA15 is owned by New York-based Fisher Brothers, with one existing location near the Las Vegas Strip. Area 15 Orlando LLC purchased the property in 2021 for $24.8 million. The company revealed plans the following year to bring its entertainment concept to Orlando. The company’s Vegas location is a cross between an interactive art museum anchored by Meow Wolf, an amusement park and a retail center.
Entertainment concept AREA15 intended to build a venue in Orlando, but the company scrapped the plans in summer 2024. Now the land where it would have gone has been bought by Walmart. (Handout from AREA15)
Michael Beneville, chief creative officer for AREA15, previously told GrowthSpotter that the venue would have been inspired by the Vegas location while incorporating themes specific to Orlando. Approved plans for AREA15 called for a 309,279-square-foot commercial building surrounded by a parking lot. However, the founders announced in summer 2024 the project would no longer move forward and the property was sold Jan. 28, 2025 for $24.18 million to Cornerstone Collard Vineland.
Cornerstone Collard Vineland filed a preliminary subdivision plan application with the county in early June last year for a dining and retail hub called Vineland Gallaria. The proposal would have subdivided the property into 11 lots with over 300,000 square feet of commercial space. But the owners withdrew the plan a few weeks later and instead held a pre-application meeting with the county to discuss the proposed big box store.
The property is zoned PD with a future land use of Activity Center Mixed-use (ACMU), which allows for a mixture of tourist-related development and supportive residential uses.
The 16.5-acre property is located on the east side of I-4, just south of the Daryl Carter Parkway interchange. (Orange County Property Appraiser)
This land acquisition by Walmart is the latest example of the retail behemoth’s expansion in Central Florida.
Walmart and its membership-only warehouse club, Sam’s Club, have plans to operate new locations within Minneola Marketplace. With over 340,000 square feet of retail space combined, the two stores — northeast of the intersection of North Hancock Road and Citrus Grove Road, southwest of Minneola’s turnpike interchange — will have parking spaces for over 1,200 vehicles.
Plans filed in December with the City of St. Cloud call for a 187,400-square-foot big box anchor on 40 acres of prime land on E. Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway. The size and layout of the store, which includes a drive-thru pharmacy and associated 20-pump fueling station and convenience store, make it a likely candidate for a Walmart Supercenter.
In Apopka, Walmart recently bought about 45 acres of vacant land at 3951 W. Kelly Park Rd., located about a half mile west of the interchange with State Road 429 (Wekiva Parkway). The company paid about $21.2 million in a deal that closed on Jan. 9. The land is west of Wyld Oaks, a 230-acre, master-planned community set to include about 6,000 residential units, 300,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space as well as an AdventHealth ER.
Brian Bell can be reached at bbell@orlandosentinel.com. Have a tip about Central Florida development? Email Newsroom@GrowthSpotter.com. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.