BREAKING: Disney Reveals Plans for a New Affordable Housing Project in Orlando

We recently reported that Universal Studios has plans to build an affordable housing community in Central Florida. Now, it looks like they aren’t the only ones looking to build a new development in the area.

Disney just announced that they plan to build an affordable housing development, which will be located in Central Florida as well! Learn about their plans for this new community here.

Walt Disney World Resort is planning to earmark about 80 acres of land for their new affordable housing development. The planned location is in southwest Orange County, Florida. According to Disney, this project has been in the works for a long time, and it “builds on The Walt Disney Company’s long legacy of bringing positive, lasting change to the communities it calls home.”

Disney plans to work with a developer to build more than 1,300 units in this community. Although the project is still in the “early planning stages,” we can expect that there will be a variety of residence types in the area, which will be located near schools and the upcoming Flamingo Crossings Town Center. Flamingo Crossings is a complex that will have many options for dining and shopping.

According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, affordable housing is defined as “housing on which the occupant is paying no more than 30 percent of gross income for housing costs, including utilities.” This is applied to the median income level in a community in order to determine the cost of affordable housing in any given area.

While a third-party developer will be working on the project, Disney has said that their team will “add creative and innovative touches to make [the community] a special place to live.” They will strive to bring the same “innovation, expertise, and detail” to this project as they bring to the Disney parks and hotels.

Disney has said that this community will be open to “qualifying applicants,” including both the general public and Disney Cast Members.

Walt Disney World Resort President Jeff Vahle said, “We are invested in working together with our community to solve complex issues. The lack of affordable housing is affecting many people across our country, including right here in Central Florida. With this initiative, we’re lending a hand to make a real and meaningful impact in our community by tapping into the best of our company’s strengths. This is the right opportunity and the right time to take action.”

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demmings also commented on this project: “This is something that we certainly know is a dire need in this community, so we look forward to working with other businesses to do the same as we endeavor to close the gap between the housing crisis and the lack of affordable housing to having an abundance of workforce housing in this community.”

Mayor Demmings also tweeted this in support of the housing project, saying that the city should continue to seek solutions to the housing crisis with private, public, and philanthropic sectors.

In order to end the #AffordableHousing crisis in @OrangeCoFL, we must continue to seek solutions within private, public and philanthropic sectors. https://t.co/7TrwVEMMlu

— Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings (@OCFLMayor) April 8, 2022

 

You can check out this video to learn even more about the new community:

We’re looking forward to new details and more announcements about this project soon! Keep following AllEars for more of the latest Disney news.

Learn about Universal Studios’ plans for an affordable housing development.

What do you think about Disney’s new plans for an affordable housing development? Let us know in the comments.

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