Avalon Road apartment project progresses

A Winter Park-based developer is one step closer to its proposed Registry at Grass Lake apartment community becoming a reality.

The developer, Brossier, purchased 17.97 acres at 14544 Avalon Road in Orange County’s Four Corners area in February. The parcel was sold by 18 Ava lon Road LLC, an Atlanta-based company. Kevin O’Connor and Matthew Cichocki, principals at NAI Realvest, brokered the sale for $3.03 million.

According to county records, Brossier plans to develop up to 360 multi-family units in five-story buildings facing Grass Lake. The property is on the west side of Avalon Road and just north of U.S. 192.

“The buyer, Brossier, is still in permitting,” O’Connor said. “It was on the market for approximately five months before it went to contract. (It) closed after land use and zoning was changed.”

In July 2019, the Orange County Commission approved an initial request to rezone the property  from A-1 Citrus Rural District to Planned Development District to allow for the development of 360 units. The commission also granted four waivers from Orange County Code regarding multi-family-use separation and building height. 

Currently, Brossier has an application for a land-use plan amendment to rezone an adjacent 1.37-acre parcel from A-1 Citrus Rural District to Planned Development District and incorporate it into the Registry at Grass Lake PD. The request also includes waivers from Orange County Code to reduce the distance separation for five-story multi-family buildings in relation to single-family zoned property.

“The current request is to add in 1.37 acres into the current PD with no increase to the entitlements,” Orange County Case Planner Jason Sorensen said.

County documents show the apartment units will be built on roughly 12.39 developable acres. Each unit will have at least 500 square feet of living area. Officials estimate the 360 units will generate 102 students, and the estimated traffic generated is about 1,800 daily trips.

To separate the portion of the property adjacent to single-family homes, Brossier also will construct a 6-foot-tall masonry, brick or block wall as a buffer. No elevations or renderings have been shared publicly. Brossier representatives did not respond to a request for comment before press time.

Sorensen added that the case is tentatively going before the Planning & Zoning Commission on June 5, after which it will be scheduled for a public hearing before the Board of County Commissioners at a later date.