Exclusive: Unicorp reveals new images, video of $1B Disney-area O-Town West (Video)
One of Central Florida’s future entertainment destinations is pulling back the curtain to give a peek at its ongoing design.
Unicorp National Developments Inc.’s planned $1B O-Town West project has shared with Orlando Business Journal new renderings and a video fly-over tour that gives a peek into the future 400,000-square-foot Boardwalk at O-Town West retail center.
Renderings show the center will be multilevel and built around a large central water feature. Buildings have a modern tropical feel with high-tech displays, a structure with a mirror-like exterior and even a short dock that lets guests get closer to the central fountain, which includes water spouts that jump around.
In a nutshell: The $1 billion, mixed-use O-Town project, as first reported by Orlando Business Journal, will include a 400,000-square-foot, grocery-anchored retail center called The Boardwalk at O-Town West — a tourist-centric complex with a mix of restaurants, shops and a 600-space parking garage. The project also will have 1,500 upscale apartments in multiple towers, a potential hotel and 150 homes in an area called Village at O-Town.
Unicorp has yet to reveal any tenants signed on for O-Town, but the video tour has names like Francesca’s Bistro, which could be simply an example for the video. Unicorp President Chuck Whittall told Orlando Business Journal he is seeking out-of-market brands to bring to the development and there are restaurants with the Francesca’s names around the U.S.
Other potential deals in the works are for a dine-in movie theater.
O-Town’s development team includes project engineer Raleigh, N.C.-based Kimley-Horn & Associates Inc. and Miami-based Zyscovich Architects’ Winter Park office, with the apartments being built by Roger B. Kennedy Inc.
Developments like O-Town provide new experiences and after-hours options for the millions of visitors who come to Orlando each year. In addition, development of this scope results in thousands of temporary construction jobs and many permanent jobs.
Whittall, who is considered a national commercial real estate influencer, has more than $200 million worth of construction in the works throughout the area, and more beyond the region’s borders. Unicorp’s current projects in various stages of construction include luxury apartments, shops, restaurants and a 450-foot-tall swing tower ride with a 3,500-square-foot retail building at its base on Orlando’s International Drive.
Here’s a look at some of Unicorp National Developments Inc.’s Central Florida projects:
- Griffin Farm at Midtown, $200 million: The mixed-use project in Lake Mary is on track to be almost fully completed by the end of the year. The Griffin Farm at Midtown project by Unicorp and Orlando-based Project Finance & Development LLC consists of a $20 million, 150,000-square-foot shopping center featuring Lucky’s Market, a five-level parking garage, the 138-lot Griffin Park community by David Weekley Homes and the 263-unit Drake at Midtown apartment complex.
- Venetian Isles, $42 million: The 346-unit luxury multifamily project broke ground in 2016. The complex includes a 302-unit apartment community along with 44 townhomes.
- Lakeside Crossing, $35 million: This project involved tearing down the historic 147-room Best Western Mt. Vernon Inn on U.S. Highway 17-92 and Morse Boulevard in Winter Park and rebuilding it into a 35,000-square-foot retail complex with associated parking structure. Unicorp began this project to build on its success across the street, at the Trader Joe’s-anchored Lakeside Winter Park development. Unicorp initially had a challenge with trying to address parking at the busy intersection, since Lakeside Winter Park was limited in space. However, Unicorp added a three-level parking structure at Lakeside Crossing, which could be used by shoppers at both complexes.
- Westside Shoppes, $20 million:This 70,700-square-foot shopping center was developed in Horizon West by Unicorp and Project Finance & Development LLC. It offers plenty of shopping and dining venues in one of Central Florida’s fastest growing submarkets, west Orange County.
- Starflyer, $10 million: A 400-foot-tall spinning swing ride set to debut in June in the Vue at 360 entertainment center next to Unicorp’s I-Drive 360 dining and entertainment complex, which features the Coca-Cola Orlando Eye, Madame Tussauds and a Sea Life Aquarium.