Orange County Communications Division
Email: pio@ocfl.net

Universal Assists Mayor Demings’ Housing for All Initiative with an Affordable Housing Public-Private Partnership

Mayor Demings' Seal

Orange County, Fla. – Today, Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings and Universal Parks and Resorts Executive John Sprouls announced a major initiative to aid in the increase of affordable housing units in Orange County.

Universal Parks and Resorts will make 20 acres of land available for affordable housing units. This land will accommodate nearly 1,000 mixed-use housing units.

The announcement comes on the heels of Mayor Demings’ Housing for All Task Force’s recommendations recently finalized in November.  One of the main recommendations was to engage the community and industry, and develop public-private partnerships to help address the affordable housing crisis.

“We couldn’t be more excited,” said Mayor Demings. “While details are still being worked out, Universal is serving as a prime example of a private entity teaming up with a public entity to address the affordable housing crisis in Orange County.”

Mayor Demings and his staff have been working with Universal and other corporate partners for solutions for the community housing needs in that area. Universal Parks and Resorts, which had representation on the Housing for All Task Force through its Vice President of Human Resources Rhonda Rhodes, believes that making this land available helps with the human element.

“This land is exactly where the Housing for All Task Force tells us it is needed,” said Universal Parks and Resorts John Sprouls. “It was our goal to be part of the solution of this major local issue.”

The land, which is located near the I-Drive corridor, is one of the region’s most desirable development areas.  The County and Universal will work together over the next year to determine how to structure the agreement.

Map of Universal Orlando Masterplan“This is a wonderful start to fulfilling the goal of 30,000 housing units by 2030,” said Mayor Demings.

Universal Orlando will also make three additional acres of land available for mass transit to assist for this growing area.

“Light rail and/or mass transit is another major issue facing our community – and we will be making an additional three acres of land adjacent to this site available for this specific use,” added Sprouls.

Additional details regarding this announcement will be released when they are available. More information about the Housing for All report can be found at www.ocfl.net/HousingForAll.

 

About Orange County Government: Orange County Government strives to serve its residents and guests with integrity, honesty, fairness and professionalism. Located in Central Florida, Orange County includes 13 municipalities and is home to world-famous theme parks, one of the nation’s largest convention centers and a thriving life science research park. Seven elected members make up the Board of County Commissioners, including the Mayor, who is elected countywide. For more information, please visit www.OCFL.net or go to Orange County Government’s social media channels.

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