Coming Into Its Own

At roughly 100 square miles, the region generally referred to as southeast Orlando encompasses the University of Central Florida, Orlando International Airport and an array of master-planned communities as well as stretches of pastureland, piney forests and wetlands abutting the Econlockhatchee River.

But the remaining rural areas are rapidly vanishing as the pace of growth accelerates. Today the southeast sector, which includes portions of the city of Orlando as well as unincorporated Orlando" target="_blank">Orange County, is home to more than 200,000 people, with more arriving daily.

"When I moved here in 1994, it was the nicest place. It wasn't crowded at all, and my home backed up against the woods," says Scott Kidd, a business consultant who lives in Cypress Springs. "My house doesn't back up to the woods anymore. Now, I can only see them through my binoculars"

With this explosive growth, however, have come challenges. Chief among them: building enough roads, schools and healthcare facilities to keep pace.

And although some developers are working with local governments to expand roads and construct new schools, there's also a movement afoot to form a new municipality in the county's unincorporated eastern region.

"The services we have are stretched beyond their limits. The east side [of Orlando" target="_blank">Orange County] has 40 percent of the county's population, but we don't see 40 percent of county assets being used here," explains Kidd, who's leading the charge to incorporate.

Until the late 1980s, southeast Orlando-which is defined as stretching from the University of Central Florida in the north to Orlando International Airport in the south and from Goldenrod Road in the west to the Econ River in the east-was virtually untouched by the growth brought to the western reaches of Orlando" target="_blank">Orange County by Central Florida's ever-expanding tourism industry.

Instead, the area was home to family farms, the Econ River, CSX railroad tracks and the Orlando Utilities Commission's Curtis H. Stanton Energy Center. UCF was still known as a commuter college and more than a decade away from becoming one of Florida's largest public universities, while the area's other major economic engine, defense contracting, was just getting off the ground.

However, as land started to become scarce and pricey in other parts of Orlando and Orlando" target="_blank">Orange County, developers and homebuilders turned their attention to southeast Orlando.

The result: The southeast sector was the fastest growing part of Orlando" target="_blank">Orange County between 1990 and 2000. In fact, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the area's population grew by more than 81 percent, to 164,600, during the decade.

At 200,000 people and roughly 65,000 households, southeast Orlando today boasts a larger population than the city proper.

Much of the growth has come in the form of large, master-planned communities that contain a mixture of single-family and multifamily homes clustered around retail and commercial development.

An example is Randal Park, which the Orlando City Council approved in March. The 712-acre community, to be developed by Centex Homes, south of the BeachLine Expressway and east of the Central Florida GreeneWay, will include a mix of housing styles as well as a town center with shops, restaurants and offices.

Many of the existing communities in southeast Orlando, including Lake Nona, Avalon Park, Stoneybrook East, Waterford Lakes, Vista Lakes, Moss Park, North Shore at Lake Hart and Eagle Creek, can be found along Alafaya Trail, Avalon Park Boulevard, Econlockhatchee Trail, Curry Ford Road and Lee Vista Boulevard.

Some, such as Lake Nona and Eagle Creek, boast championship golf courses. Others, such as Vista Lakes, Moss Park and North Shore at Lake Hart, benefit from southeast Orlando's natural environment and feature recreational amenities such as hiking trails and access to the Econ River.

With an eye toward convenience and self-sufficiency, all of these communities incorporate commercial development to some degree, with everything from restaurants and neighborhood merchants to grocery stores and big-box national retailers. Some even have schools on-site.

"Southeast Orlando is a very attractive place now," says Jeff Jones, acting executive director of the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council. "Ten years ago, you had to drive a distance west to reach a store. Now there's a full complement of land uses and services in the area."

Nestled amid a transportation network that includes the Beachline Expressway, the Central Florida GreeneWay and the East-West Expressway, southeast Orlando's growth should be no surprise.

"Location, location, location," chants Beat Kahli, developer of burgeoning Avalon Park. "This is the most ideal area. You can get almost anywhere in Central Florida-downtown Orlando, beaches, the attractions-in about 30 minutes."

The location factor is enhanced by the area's environmental and recreational offerings, beginning with the Econ River and the Hal Scott Regional Preserve and Park.

Then there's the area's varied employment base, encompassing everything from higher education and defense contractors to the simulation industry and healthcare.

Top southeast Orlando employers include UCF, Central Florida Research Park, Siemens Westinghouse Power Corp., Lockheed Martin, Florida Hospital East Orlando, Orlando International Airport and Waterford Lakes Town Center.

The town center, a 1.2-million-square-foot open-air mall, includes big box retailers as well as a 20-screen movie theater and more than 100 specialty shops and restaurants.

Meanwhile, plans to develop International Corporate Park by Fort Myers-based Grosse Pointe Development Company are in the hands of the Florida Department of Community Affairs.

Currently, three different plans are being considered for the 1,000-acre site, located just east of the airport. All would transform the original plans for ICP from 20 million square feet of industrial development to a mixed-use, new urban village complete with a second location for Central Florida Research Park.

Central Florida Research Park's current 1,027-acre campus, located adjacent to UCF, is home to 9,500 employees who work for companies such as the National Center for Simulation, the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division, Hewitt Associates, Adaptec, Boeing, the Air Force Agency for Modeling and Simulation and the Army Simulation, Training and Instrumentation Command.

"Many of these jobs are high-value, high-wage jobs," says Jim Spaeth, chairman of the East Orlando Chamber of Commerce and senior vice president of Mainsail Development Group. Such jobs allow the area's residents to enjoy a high quality-of-life index and an average household income of more than $55,000 a year.

Tavistock Group, the developer of upscale Lake Nona, has been particularly aggressive in promoting commercial and job growth in southeast Orlando.

Those efforts were bolstered in March, when the state university system's Board of Governors approved UCF's plans for a medical school. Now the university can break ground on its Burnett College of Biomedical Sciences, which will rise on land donated by Tavistock.

"The UCF medical school will be the center of a 50-acre medical city at Lake Nona that will involve medicine, research and hundreds of new jobs," says Jim Zboril, president of Lake Nona Property Holdings, a subsidiary of Tavistock. "The med school is a phenomenal opportunity for the community as a whole and will create a new class of jobs in the Southeast sector."

Naturally, the growth boom brings with it the usual down sides.

Alafaya Trail, one of the area's main thoroughfares, is at capacity because of lagging road improvements. Because of a new growth-management mandate, the county may have to deny requests for building permits until Alafaya is widened.

Meanwhile, the area's schools are overflowing with kids, and there's just one hospital to serve its continually growing population.

But these challenges have opened the door to unique opportunities for public-private partnerships to meet the area's infrastructure needs. For example, Avalon Associates and Kahli have built schools in Avalon Park, and Emerson International donated land to Orlando" target="_blank">Orange County Public Schools for an elementary school.

"We really try to be a partner to solve these problems and take the lead in getting these things done," says Joe Pasqualetti, president of Emerson International and developer of Eagle Creek.

Kidd believes incorporating the portions of southeast Orlando that are part of unincorporated Orlando" target="_blank">Orange County is a logical next step. But the level of support for incorporation remains to be seen.

Many think there would be opposition from Orlando" target="_blank">Orange County government because incorporation would remove more than 40 percent of the county's population from its tax rolls.

Further, the major players in the area's business community might not be too keen on the idea, either.

"I've worked with the county for the last 15 years," says Kahli, "and now is not the time to leave when we're making progress."

Even so, according to the East Orlando Chamber's 2002 Ask East Orlando Survey, nearly 73 percent of residents agreed that the area should be "its own recognizable community."

What would the proposed new city be called? No consensus has emerged, but a lot of residents already have a name for the region: They call it home.

SOUTHEAST EMPLOYERS

Southeast Orlando has an employment base unlike any other in Central Florida. From higher education to defense contracting to a retail mecca, the area's employers give Southeast Orlando one of the highest average incomes-$55,000-in Central Florida.

• Central Florida Research Park: As Orlando's biggest employment center, the 1,027-acre campus is home to more than 9,500 employees with such varied employers as Adaptec; Boeing; Cognoscenti Health Institute; Hewitt Associates; the Air Force Agency for Modeling and Simulation; the Army Simulation, Training and Instrumentation Command and the Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division.

• The University of Central Florida: Now one of the largest universities in Florida, UCF boasts close to 8,500 employees.

• Valencia Community College: One of the largest community colleges in the state, VCC's 140-acre campus in Southeast Orlando employs more than 1,200 people.

• Lockheed Martin: Its southeast Orlando facility, on Lake Underhill Road, is home to more than 3,600 employees working in the information systems division.

• Siemens Westinghouse Power Corp.: Located on Alafaya Trail just outside the main entrance to UCF, the company's corporate headquarters employs about 2,800 workers.

• Florida Hospital East Orlando: This hospital is the main healthcare facility in east Orlando. Its more than 1,100 employees serve almost 100,000 patients annually.

• Waterford Lakes Town Center: In its 1.2 million square feet of space, this open-air lifestyle center and its more than 100 tenants employ more than 2,000 people.