Disney Moves Forward With Massive Employee Relocation to Florida

If you’ve been wondering about Disney’s massive relocation to Central Florida, we’ve got an update! Back in 2021, Disney bought nearly 60 acres of land in Lake Nona near Orlando to build a new campus for employees.

However, Disney put the project on pause after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis moved to dissolve Disney World’s special district. Recently, though, we learned that Disney is moving forward with the campus project. Now, we have ANOTHER update.

Previously, records from the City of Orlando showed that a specific parcel master plan was sought for the development of an approximately 1.8 million-square-foot office complex with office and flex space within the Lake Nona PD, Parcel 20A.” This parcel is the 60 acres that Disney bought for its employee campus.

The application for that parcel was completed on January 18th, 2023. Now, according to The Orlando Business Journal, Disney’s Lake Nona campus will be brought to the city’s development review committee on March 9th.

Tavistock Development Co., which is the Lake Nona master developer and the organization that sold the land to Disney’s Dynamic Campus LLC, “is acting as applicant on behalf of the landowner for a request to approve a specific parcel master plan.”

This is the next step in the development process to get the Lake Nona campus project off the ground so Disney can begin construction on it. This particular item has been placed on the committee’s consent agenda, suggesting that the project will be approved for the next step, which would “include submitting an official site plan, along with elevations, signage and landscaping plans for the city’s appearance review board.”

After that, building permits would be applied for. Once issued, Disney could start construction on the campus, which could cost over $1.3 billion. The campus would include eight buildings: six will be office buildings standing from four to six stories, while two will be flex buildings standing at four stories. There will also be three parking garages. Site plans also show a network of walkways for pedestrians, as well as an open area in the center of the campus.

Disney has not yet commented on a timeline for when the project might be completed, but we’ll keep an eye on the situation and keep you updated. So keep checking back with AllEars for more!