Unicorp National Developments is moving forward with its revised plans for an almost $90 million mixed-use project called The Pinnacle in one of the Orlando area’s most-affluent communities.
Marketplace Center LLC, an entity tied to Orlando-based Unicorp, filed plans Wednesday with Orange County for the four-story, mixed-use commercial center with an internal four-level parking garage. The 1.6 acres of land are in the heart of Orlando’s famed “Restaurant Row.”
The project on the northwest corner at the intersection of Dr. Phillips Boulevard and W. Sand Lake Road would have about 48,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space. The building would top out at no more than 70 feet tall at the peak of the elevator tower that rises to the rooftop parking level.
Unicorp President and CEO Church Whittall, who founded the company, told GrowthSpotter the development will have up to seven spaces available for retail and restaurants — most on the first floor but none above the second. His goal is two to four restaurants — possibly one in each corner of the first floor.
“We have several interested restaurants and a couple other retail concepts, as well, that we’re working with,” Whittall said, adding he’s not ready to identify them. “They’re just really good concepts that are elsewhere in the country and elsewhere in the state.”
To make way for the development, Unicorp would demolish an existing two-story building currently occupied by a Valley Bank branch that was built in 1984. Unicorp acquired the property for $2 million in 2002, and it has a 2025 assessed value of $2.51 million.
Although there will be some surface parking on the west side of the building that’s not facing the intersection, Whittall said most is on the second, third and fourth floors largely hidden from public view.
“The parking garage will be hidden by the restaurants and retail that go around it,” he said. “The parking will be the center of the doughnut, if you would.”
Unicorp got pushback to the project in 2023 during a community meeting with area residents who expressed concerns about the building’s appearance and its proposed height of up to six stories.
The original vision for The Pinnacle development, at the intersection of Dr. Phillips Boulevard and W. Sand Lake Road, got pushback from area residents over the building’s appearance and height. Revised plans show a shorter building with a new look for the prime spot in Orlando’s “Restaurant Row.” (Renderings by Finfrock/Orange County records)
“One, they thought it was too modern looking, and, second, the height was taller than everybody wanted it,” he said. “So we lowered the height to conform with what’s in the area, and we changed the design to more of a Mediterranean feel.”
The company is seeking eight waivers from county regulations governing issues including open space, building height, landscape buffers and setbacks.
“The waivers that we’re seeking are exactly what’s in the new Orange code that got challenged in the courts,” he said. “We’re not seeking anything outside of what the new Orange code is, Vision 2050.
“We’re complying with that, but we’re asking for waivers so we don’t have to wait for the lawsuit between the county and the state to get resolved.”
In September, the county joined Windermere and more than two dozen other cities and counties in a lawsuit challenging parts of the statute, Senate Bill 180, which went into effect last year and restricts local home rule authority over land use and planning. That litigation is still pending, though Leon County Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey dismissed four of the five counts in the complaint in late February.
The Pinnacle is one of the latest among many projects Unicorp has underway in the Central Florida region.
The company hopes to start construction in the coming months on The Luxe at Dr. Phillips, located at the corner of Fenton Street and South Apopka Vineland Road. Whittall previously said The Luxe is a “super high luxury project” that will stand out even among the area’s other high-end communities.
Last fall, Unicorp broke ground on the final phase of Glasshouse, a luxury apartment complex in O-Town West, with construction expected to take between two and two-and-a-half years. The phase will include two additional 5-story buildings with a combined 591 units, according to plans filed with the county. Unicorp opened an existing 302-unit building in 2022.
Unicorp is also co-developing the former Wyndham Resort property on International Drive with a new InterContinental Hotel, planned to break ground this summer.
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.