A park, YMCA, apartments and other features years in the making within Orlando’s new $700 million Packing District neighborhood are expected to open next year.
Buildings are going up in the more than 200-acre project from Dr. Phillips Charities around Princeton Street, Orange Blossom Trail and John Young Parkway. The project is northwest of downtown Orlando and just west of the College Park community.
“2022 is an exciting year for the Packing District,” said Ken Robinson, Dr. Phillips Charities CEO. “You’ll start to feel the vibe of the district come to life.”
The city’s 66-acre park featuring trails, wetlands and a pond is expected to debut in spring, with a 17-court tennis center following in the summer, said Cassandra Bell, press secretary for Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer.
The 307-unit Cannery at The Packing District apartment complex along Orange Blossom Trail also is slated to open for its first residents in early 2022, according to Robinson. Construction on a second, 345-unit building from the same developers is anticipated to start in the summer.
A replica of a juice stand that was once part of Philip “Doc” Phillips’ citrus operations that gave the neighborhood its name is being built with a vision of serving coffee, sandwiches and orange juice. It is set to open in April near Princeton Street and Orange Blossom Trail, but the operator has yet to be revealed.
(High-dynamic-range composite image by Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel)
The district’s new YMCA will open later in the year in the fall, said Jody Alexander, chief operating officer for the YMCA of Central Florida. Walls on the YMCA went up in mid-November, and the roof is expected to be completed in January.
“I think you could have heard cheers across the community because it’s been challenging to get to this point,” Alexander said.
The building went through a little bit of a delay, Alexander said, but not long enough for her to provide a timeline of the setback. The project has undergone a couple of small redesigns, including the roof after a certain type of insulation wasn’t available.
Alexander said the two-story YMCA, which will feature a splash pad, will serve Orlando’s nearby College Park neighborhood as well as the eastern part of Pine Hills to “bridge neighborhoods and bring people together.”
Nearby residents still have to wait longer for a new 27,512-square-foot Publix grocery store at the northeast corner of Princeton Street and Orange Blossom Trail won’t open until 2023, according to Robinson.
A food hall is also expected to be completed in 2023, a renovation of the Southern Box Building that was built in the 1930s south of Princeton’s intersection with Orange Blossom Trail.
A unique project is planned to open in the last part of 2022.
An 18-acre educational farm off John Young Parkway from 4 Rivers Smokehouse founder John Rivers is slated to open its first phase in the fourth quarter of next year, but Rivers cautions that construction timelines could change.
The first part of 4Roots Farm is expected to be focused on education and include a hydroponic greenhouse, field gardens, an apiary, an iconic red barn for equipment, and two classrooms, Rivers said.
Future phases are planned to include community spots that include an events center and restaurant as well as a culinary health institute that will conduct clinical trials on the role of food as medicine, according to Rivers.
He has been planting the seeds of the project for more than half a decade.
“After seven years, I’m just happy to see it in motion,” Rivers said.
afuller@orlandosentinel.com
