ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014\u00a0An empty lot in downtown Orlando is going to have to wait even longer for development to begin. Westcourt Orlando is a massive mixed-use project across from the Kia Center was announced in 2024 and expected to break ground last year, but it never did.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
Westcourt was originally expected to start construction in 2025. Instead, the developers are now aiming for the end of 2026
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Downtown Orlando leaders say the delay is about money and getting the right finances in place for the project
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The development is 900,000 square feet and will feature high-rise apartments, a hotel, office space, retail stores and a live events space
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Construction could start by the end of this year with a projected opening in 2028<\/p>\n
Downtown Orlando leaders say the delay is about money and getting the right finances in place for the project.<\/p>\n
The development sits along Church Street, just down from several small businesses, including Flamingo\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it is going to be good for business, very good because it is literally right there, it is walking distance to here,\u201d said Tamara Simikic, the manager at Flamingo\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Westcourt is 900,000 square feet and will feature high-rise apartments, a hotel, office space, retail stores and a live events space.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot even just the residents, but the workers that are going to be there building it are going to come eat lunch here. The people that are living there are obviously going to explore and eat lunch here,\u201d Simikic said.<\/p>\n
Small businesses and residents are ready for the boost Westcourt will bring to downtown. \u201cIt is pretty awesome,\u201d said Joseph Brooks, who lives in Orlando. But like many others, he is starting to get impatient. \u201cPlease hurry up, please,\u201d Brooks said.<\/p>\n
The project was originally expected to start construction in 2025. Instead, the developers are now aiming for the end of 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe debt markets have been shifting, and they want to make sure that they move forward in a way that sets the project up for long-term success,\u201d said David Barilla, the executive director of Downtown Orlando.<\/p>\n
Barilla said finances have been the biggest challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are in constant communication, we have routine updates, talk through any challenges that are on the horizon, how we can work together to solve them and really continue to chart a path forward so we can deliver the project to the community,\u201d Barilla said.<\/p>\n
A statement from Machete Group, one of the developers behind the project, says:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe remain pleased with the steady progress at Westcourt. Key operating partners are in place, permitting continues to advance, and our construction pricing is nearly finalized. We remain on track toward meeting our projected 2028 delivery and look forward to sharing more as the project advances.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMake it happen, literally, that is all I can say. Make it happen because a lot a people are hopeful for it,\u201d Simikic said.<\/p>\n
At this point, Downtown Orlando said there have not been any adjustments made to the plan, and they have not had to cut anything out despite the challenges. Construction could start by the end of this year with a projected opening in 2028.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2014\u00a0An empty lot in downtown Orlando is going to have to wait even longer for development…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[2031,558,115,1335,139,141,140,9429,14104],"class_list":["post-172058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-app-local-business","tag-business","tag-news","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-sarah-winkelmann","tag-topic-latest-local-business-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}