A company affiliated with Universal Theme Parks has closed on the purchase of 450-plus acres near the Orange County Convention Center, sources confirmed.
The purchase would pave the way for possible expansion of Universal’s theme park empire in Orlando. The property was transferred through a simple quit claim deed on Dec. 18 to an obscure Delaware company.
“It’s Universal, it’s a done deal, they’ve closed on it,” said Robert Cooke Jr., a Miami attorney who represented the seller, California-based Colony Capital, in recent court cases.
Universal’s media spokesman in Orlando, Tom Schroder, said the company would not be commenting in response to questions Wednesday. Universal has declined repeatedly to comment on their interest in the property.
A source with knowledge of the deal said he doesn’t believe there’s a timeline for development yet.
“My feeling is, it’s a lot of land, and my guess is, it will be phased in, and they will figure it out after the holiday break,” said the source, who commented on the condition of anonymity.
The property includes the largest tracts of vacant land in Orlando’s International Drive tourism corridor, and is already loaded with entitlements allowing thousands of hotel rooms, residential units and – on one portion -- a theme-park style attraction.
A previous Universal company, Universal Vivendi, had once owned the property. It was originally acquired from defense contractor Lockheed Martin in 1998, and was part of Lockheed’s Sand Lake Road complex. Later a team of developers acquired it, including Georgia businessman Stan Thomas, with certain restrictions on what they could build. But the entire acreage fell into foreclosure during the Great Recession.
Colony acquired the property through a foreclosure on Nov. 18 this year. A principal with Colony, Paul Fuhrman, had promised that it would be marketed globally, but Colony stopped talking about it after multiple sources said Universal had a contract on it.
There’s a lot riding on the future of the property. County officials and businesses for miles around have been trying to plan for traffic demands and development patterns in the area.
Universal’s lobbyists had recently asked the county to pause a long-term vision process for the region.
But Alberto Vargas, manager of Orange County planning, said efforts to plan for the region’s future will not wait on Universal until a more specific proposal for the vacant land is revealed.
“I have not talked to Universal specifically about this property. If they come forward with a plan, it could potentially accelerate projects to improve roads and transportation there,” Vargas said.
The property is just north of the convention center, and south or southeast of Lockheed Martin's Missiles and Fire Control plant. Two major road extensions are expected to connect through the vacant area: Kirkman Road and Destination Parkway.
Destination is already part of the county’s capital improvement plan, but there’s no funding in place for Kirkman yet, Vargas said.
