Boca Raton-based Gables Residential is looking to expand its Central Florida portfolio with a new luxury apartment community in downtown Orlando’s desirable Ivanhoe District.
Senior Development Manager Scott Clark has filed plans for a 295-unit building at 1000 N Orange Ave., the site previously approved for a $1.2 billion mixed-use tower called Vertical Medical City. He said Gables wants to expand its operations here a year after wrapping construction on Gables Baldwin Park.
“We really like the Ivanhoe Village area just due to the urban walkability, the urban trail that’s continuing to expand, and all the amazing local food and beverage that’s nearby,” Clark said. “In addition, the site is within 15 minutes from downtown Orlando, Maitland and the Health Village — it checks all the boxes of being close to jobs, being close to live, work, play, while also having the connectivity to Greater Orlando through I-4 and the Sunrail.”
The proposed Gables Ivanhoe would be seven stories wrapping an eight-level parking garage with a rooftop pool and clubhouse. The corner of N Orange and N Garland avenues will be a feature with double-height windows, dramatic lighting and stone accents. (Rendering by Baker Barrios)
Gables has enlisted Baker Barrios Architects, which designed Gables Baldwin Park, and requested a courtesy review in May from the city’s Appearance Review Board.
In its project description, the architects noted that the site has long been defined by absence. “Its development marks a transition— from vacancy to vitality—re-establishing the street edge and contributing to the evolving identity of this urban district,” they wrote.
The project consists of a seven-story apartment structure with structured parking. While the Baldwin Park project was all concrete construction, Clark said the plan for Gables Ivanhoe is to build five stories of wood-framed housing over a two-story concrete podium. It will have an interior courtyard, but the main amenity and pool will be on the roof of the parking garage.
“The site is kind of oddly shaped, so we would have to either put the pool on the rooftop or within the courtyard,” Clark said. If they opted for the courtyard, the pool wouldn’t get much sun. “And then we just didn’t think it would be perceived well, so we decided to put the pool on the roof to allow for our residents to have views of Lake Concord as well as downtown Orlando. And we think that it will be a really nice amenity.”
The Gables Ivanhoe site is bordered by N Garland and N Orange avenues and the SunRail/CSX tracks on the east. It overlooks I-4 and Lake Concord. (Orange County Property Appraiser)
The building is positioned so the parking garage and fitness center occupy most of the frontage along the train tracks. Gables would also utilize window glass with enhanced sound-mitigation to reduce noise.
“We have studied it,” Clark said. “We’ve actually spent time going out there and seeing the train come by, and it’s not allowed to blow its horn in that area. So it’s really not a huge impact to the project.”
The project will carry over some of the features from Baldwin Park, including the oversized, deluxe fitness center. But the overall design appearance will be more streamlined, featuring a color palette with contrasting dark and light shades.
“So we thought that this building needed to look more contemporary, given the urban location. The building design lends itself to urban contextualism with sleeker lines and materials that respect existing streetscapes, and we plan to design our exterior lighting so it really pops out when you’re driving on I-4,” Clark said. “As there are millions of drivers passing this site on an annual basis, we wanted to make sure that the curb appeal from I-4 really highlighted the building.”
They paid special attention to the balconies, alternating between recessed and projected conditions to create shadow, depth, and a dynamic interplay of light. And the hard corner at N. Orange and Garland avenues will be a focal point with double-height windows, stone accents and a mix of uplighting and downlighting.
“The result is a building that transforms a previously underutilized site into an active urban contributor—one that is shaped by context, responsive to infrastructure, and expressive of the evolving character of Ivanhoe,” the architect wrote.
The development matrix consists of nine studio apartments, 166 one-bedroom units, 115 two-bedroom units, and five three-bedroom units. The lobby and indoor amenities account for 10,000 square feet, and the parking garage accommodates 457 vehicles.
The ARB review is scheduled for May 21, and the master plan goes to the Municipal Planning Board on June 22.
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