Unicorp to start construction on luxury apartments by year’s end
Unicorp hopes to start construction on as many as four luxury apartment projects by year’s end
After snagging land next to a shopping center on Narcoossee Road in late 2021 for $3 million, Unicorp National Developments is preparing to deliver another one of its luxury apartment communities to the Orlando market.
The local company behind popular destinations such as ICON Park and O-Town West submitted an application last week to the St. Johns River Water Management District for a 182-unit apartment complex on nearly 15 acres just north of S.R. 528 near the bustling Lake Nona area.
Chuck Whittall, president and CEO of Unicorp, told GrowthSpotter that this community would be called Selene.
“It’s a luxury apartment project and we are moving forward on it,” he said, adding that the goal is to start construction on as many as four separate class A multifamily projects across Orange County by the end of this year. “We are waiting for the market to settle down.”
Development plans in the pipeline for Unicorp include the 212-unit Elysian. Slated to rise between S.R. 429 and Avalon Road in the Horizon West submarket, the garden-style community will come with a wine-tasting lounge and an indoor basketball court.
Further south on Avalon Road, near Four Corners, Unicorp is pursuing the 250-unit Sutton Grande. The developer secured the 13 acres in June 2022 for $7.5 million. It’s part of a larger mixed-use project Unicorp has planned for this area consisting of 20,000 square feet of commercial space, 554 apartment units, and 253 attached and detached single-family homes.
Unicorp is also prepping to build the 200-unit Luxe at Dr. Phillips at the end of Daryl Carter Parkway where it intersects with S. Apopka Vineland Road. The community will consist of 18 townhome units and a four-story parking garage with 209 spaces, according to site plans by Kimley-Horn.
Whittall describes it as a “super high-end” product with “the quality you’d find in a million-plus dollar home.”
The 7-acre site is located just outside the boundaries of Unicorp’s O-Town West, a not-yet-complete 300-acre mixed-use project that’s already home to several restaurants, including the world’s largest White Castle.
Two apartment projects are underway at O-Town West including the 396-unit The Bentley and Glass House, which will eventually include more than 900 units across three phases.
“We build a little bit more resort-style, with resort-style amenities, which is why I think we do so well,” Whittall said. “We’ve been doing this with all of our projects and it seems to give leasing quite the charge.”
Whittall said he plans to pursue construction loans for Elysian, Luxe, Sutton Grande, the final two phases of Glass House, and the newly filed project near Lake Nona this summer.
This signals a change in course for Whittall who told GrowthSpotter in December that he wouldn’t be starting any new construction projects this year due to rising construction costs and interest rates.
Asked if things have gotten better, he said, “I don’t know ? we are going to see soon.”
“We are going to go out for pricing on these apartment communities in June or July,” he added. “If pricing is good, we will break ground on (these apartment communities) in September or October,” Whittall said.
The planned apartment project for Narcoossee Road calls for four-story buildings, according to site plans by Kimley-Horn. It would include eight studio units, 102 one-bedroom units, and 72 two-bedroom units.
The residential buildings and clubhouse surround an open courtyard with a 2,300-square-foot pool and other amenities. The amenity package includes a sauna, steam rooms, a putting green, a pavilion with a production screen, a fire pit and a trellis walk with hanging chairs.
Architecture firm Baker Barrios is leading the project’s design.
The land is next to the Vista Palms Shopping Center, which is anchored by an Aldi, Kohl’s, and Home Depot. The Vista Lakes subdivision, built by homebuilder Taylor Morrison, abuts the property to the east.
The property sits just north of the Orlando International Airport and the Lake Nona master-planned community, which is consistently among the best-selling residential destinations in the country.
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