SunRail Approval Draws New Transit-Oriented Mixed-Use Project; Southridge IX to be Added to EastGroup’s Commerce Park

by Georgiana Mihaila, Associate Editor

Along with the approval of the SunRail commuter rail project, many developers have started revising stalled plans or drafting new ones for transit-oriented developments. Florida Hospital is the first to make an official announcement, surprising the crowds of government officials, business leaders and supporters of the SunRail project at the July 18 celebration of the official federal grant signing of the SunRail.

Florida Hospital revealed plans for a new transit-oriented mixed-use building that will tie into the planned SunRail commuter rail stop at the hospital’s main campus, at East Rollins Street and Alden Road. Connection with the planned SunRail platform just south of East Rollins will be enabled by a covered walkway. With an estimated cost of $29 million, the building will be eight stories tall and will total 90,000 square feet of administrative office space; nearly 17,000 square feet on the first and second floors will serve as retail space—a bagel or coffee shop, a full-service restaurant, and dry-cleaners.

The building is to serve as headquarters for the Florida division of parent company Adventist Health System. Design and development plans need to be finalized before moving forward with the new building, but an official ground breaking may take place as early as third-quarter 2012.

EastGroup Properties has also announced a new development of a business distribution building in Orlando. As part of its 970,000-square-foot Southridge Commerce Park, currently 100 percent leased, EastGroup plans Southridge IX. With an estimated cost of $5,350,000 the building is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of next year. Southridge IX will add 76,000 square feet to the Commerce Park.