Downtown Orlando’s preliminary approval of apartments as part of RIDA Development’s as-yet-undeveloped Central Station project will add multifamily housing to a downtown market with one newly completed project and at least three more underway.
RIDA was unable to specify the number of one- and two-bedroom units it has planned for the 5.6-acre site, which is between the Orange County Courthouse and what will be the main downtown stop for SunRail commuter trains.
Apartment projects underway in the Orlando area have trended toward one-bedroom units, but vacancies for one-bedroom apartments stand at 10.4 percent, according to an analysis by Greg Wilson, director of multifamily services for Colliers International in Orlando. Meanwhile, the vacancy rate for two-bedroom products is 8.3 percent and the rate for three-bedroom units is only 5.4 percent.
“Last year, the buzz was about one-bedrooms; the talk was about projects heavily skewed toward the majority of unit mix being one-bedrooms,” Wilson said.”But last year, there was more hope in the economy. I believe the safe bet is on the two and three bedrooms, until we have signs of a red-hot economy.”
According to Wilson, monthly rents in Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties currently average: one bedroom, $1,154; two bedroom, $1,367; and three bedroom, $1,638.
