Disney announces opening date for Florida affordable housing project
Jack Birle
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Disney announced an opening date for its first affordable housing project near the Walt Disney World Resort while also saying it would include more units than previously announced.
The new housing development in Orange County, Florida, is scheduled to open in 2026 and will feature 1,400 total units, per the company.
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“We hope to make a positive impact wherever we can in our community, so to be able to offer more units means even more Florida families will get access to attainable housing, in addition to creating new Florida jobs as part of the construction and operation,” Rena Langley, senior vice president of Walt Disney World Communications and Public Affairs, said in a post on the Disney Parks Blog on Wednesday.
Disney announced in November 2022 that the company to develop and operate the 80 acres of land would be The Michael’s Organization, while also saying the development would be privately funded and “limited to applicants within a certain income range.”
“For more than 50 years, Walt Disney World has cared for and invested in our community, and we’re committed to being a part of this solution which will bring more attainable housing to Central Florida,” Jeff Vahle, president of Walt Disney World Resort, said in a statement in November.
“We will continue to find ways to use our resources to make a difference in the community we call home, and we’re excited to take this step with a nationally recognized developer,” he added.
Disney also said executives from the Walt Disney World Resort and The Michael’s Organization met earlier this week to discuss the project, which will be 1 mile away from Magic Kingdom.
The opening year announcement late Wednesday came hours after the new board governing the district, which was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), discussed building affordable housing on land owned by the district.
Data from Florida Atlantic University from March 2023 show housing prices in Orlando, Florida, are roughly 40% above their expected price as the Sunshine State becomes a popular destination to move to.
The board expressed their desire to create new zoning to allow for affordable housing for land in the district as part of the items they seek to evaluate.
“We’re gonna evaluate creating new zoning to develop affordable and workforce housing. There’s none of that in this district, I was shocked,” Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Chairman Martin Garcia said at a meeting Wednesday. “I understand Disney has 75,000 to 100,000 employees working in the district that commute in and out every single day.”
At the meeting Wednesday, lawyers for the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District board argued that the agreement Disney made with the previous Reedy Creek Improvement District is “null and void” because it did not follow state sunshine laws.
Disney has maintained agreements made under the previous board had followed proper sunshine laws and were “appropriate.”
“All agreements signed between Disney and the District were appropriate, and were discussed and approved in open, noticed public forums in compliance with Florida’s Government in the Sunshine law,” Disney said in a statement to the Washington Examiner after the DeSantis-appointed board discovered the agreement.
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DeSantis has been working to take control of the special district encompassing the Walt Disney World Resort but has faced some roadblocks as Disney has fought to maintain its autonomy.
The battle between DeSantis and Disney, which led to Disney’s Central Florida district being restructured, stemmed from the entertainment giant’s comments denouncing DeSantis’s push for the Parental Rights in Education Act last year. Disney had maintained full autonomy over the district since its creation in 1967.