Downtown is Expanding - Strong Growth, Strong Economy - Creative Village

Looking to relocate? Want to grow professionally? Love exploring culture? The City Beautiful is the place to be. Downtown Orlando is named the #4 market to watch in 2019 by the Urban Land Institute and there is alot happening. One of the biggest projects coming to Downtown Orlando is Creative village. 

The vision for Creative Village focuses on developing a real “live, work, learn and play” urban innovation district that supports a synergistic and dynamic mix of uses including higher education, PS-8 education, mixed-income residential, student housing, office space/creative studios, retail/commercial, hotel, and parks/open space. Downtown Orlando's Creative Village will showcase best practices in responsible development.

Creative village is said to be the largest and possibly the most-anticipated new addition to Downtown Orlando. From Lake Dot heading south, the project sits on the 68-acres site where the former Amway Arena was, which will soon become home to the ever-expanding Campus of Valencia College and our beloved Knights at the University of Central Florida. Once complete, more than 8,000 students and staff, 1,500 residential units, 1,500 student dorms, 225 hotel rooms, 1.2 million square feet of office and creative space, a park, and 150,00 square feet of retail and commercial space.

Seven new projects are expected to open, including the UCF/Valencia academic building, the Dr. Phillips Academic Commons, the renovated UCF Center for Emerging Media building, a 600-space parking garage with retail on the ground floor and a 256-unit, mixed-income apartment complex. Already open are the renovated 299-room Marriott Hotel and the new Orange County Public School PS-8 school.  

Downtown Orlando's skyline will get two significant buildings in phase one of construction: a 14-story apartment building with 390 to 409 units and 10-level parking and a 15-story, 600-bed student housing building.

Creative Village is centered around education and transit, including SunRail. It will be the largest transit-oriented development project in Central Florida, significantly expanding educational opportunities in Downtown Orlando (i.e., UCF and Valencia).