New Resolutions Underway for ‘Town Center East’ and Rybold Park

By Georgiana Mihaila, Associate Editor

Boyd Development Corporation has teamed up with Dallas-based Stratford Land to acquire 600 acres of property in Horizon West, Orange County, Florida. The property, also known as Town Center East is located in the northeast and southeast quadrants of State Road 429 and the New Independence Parkway interchange. The initial planning phase is still in progress and will be followed by the joint venture’s plan to position the property as a master-planned, mixed-use project with a strong, unified identity.

Bordered on the east by Lake Hancock—providing nearly three miles of lakefront land—the property has more than 200 acres of prime residential footage, and could host, according to the developer’s plan, up to 1,600 single and multifamily homes. Boyd Development is currently working with Orange County to secure the road agreements necessary to extend New Independence Parkway and North Porter Road in order to provide future residents with improved access to the Beltway. The commercial component will also play a significant role.

“The size and scope of Town Center East will allow us to create a unique blend of high-density commercial uses—which was Orange County’s primary intent for the Town Center—with what we believe is some of the most desirable lakefront residential land in all of Orange County,” noted Scott Boyd, president of Boyd Development Corporation in a statement to the press.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, Stratford/Boyd paid $28 million for Town Center East, whose seller was an affiliate of the insurance giant AIG.

Another mega mixed-use project could be in store for the Orlando area, as Orange County commissioners are reconsidering plans for the $1.2 billion Rybold Park project. The plan was to develop a 1,440-acre, 100-year-old cattle ranch east of the Econlockhatchee River into a mixed-use community similar to Baldwin Park. The plan was to include 5,000 homes with 20 percent workforce housing, 150,000 square feet of retail, 922,000 square feet of office space, a 1.1 million-square-foot research park and 335 acres of park, trails and open space. The plan was voted down on March 9, 2010 by Orange County Commission which wanted to preserve the area’s rural character, but according to the Orlando Business Journal, commissioners are currently reconsidering the Rybold Park plans.