Master-planned communities, Disney cruises, Adventures by Disney, and even a shopping and dining center. You may have thought you’d seen all that Disney has to offer, but you’d be wrong.

Back in February of 2022, Disney announced that it would be building NEW master-planned communities. Of course, we have seen Disney get involved in real estate projects in the past, like Golden Oak or Celebration (which it no longer manages), but now Disney has announced a NEW project!

Disney recently shared that they will be earmarking almost 80 acres of land on which they will build a new affordable housing development in Orange County, Florida. According to Disney, the project has been in the works for a while and builds on their legacy of “bringing positive, lasting change to the communities it calls home” and “making an important difference locally to address one of the nation’s greatest challenges.”

The new development is still in its early planning stages and will be subject to certain approvals, but it is expected to have more than 1,300 units. It will be constructed by a 3rd party developer (which has been described as an “affordable housing developer”) and it’ll be located near Disney World’s theme parks in Orlando. 

There will be a few different home choices available in the development, all of which are meant to be affordable, and it’ll be located within close proximity to local schools and the new Flamingo Crossings Town Center area (which features a variety of stores and restaurants). The development will also offer certain amenities, though those haven’t been specified.

According to Disney, they will be working with the developer to bring their level of innovation, expertise, and attention to detail to this project.

Who will be able to live there? Well, this new affordable housing development will actually be available for qualifying applicants from the general public, including Disney’s own Cast Members.

Jess Vahle, the president of the Walt Disney World Resort said, “The lack of affordable housing is affecting many people across our country, including right here in Central Florida. With this initiative, we’re lending a hand to make a real and meaningful impact in our community by tapping into the best of our company’s strengths. This is the right opportunity and the right time to take action.”

Thus far, Disney has shared the following concept art for the community, showing lots of trees along a central pathway, lakes, and several buildings.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings has shared that he is very excited that Disney is “stepping up to the plate to help set the standard for corporate engagement in this community by building workforce housing.” Demings shared that they look forward to working with other businesses to do the same and work to “close the gap” between the housing crisis and lack of affordable housing.

Demings also said that with this new opportunity there will be workers who will be able to live there and ultimately be closer to where they work.

More details are set to be released in the future as Disney continues to work on the project with the developer.

This isn’t Disney’s first time getting involved in some way with affordable housing. Disney notes that a few years ago, Disneyland Resort “led an effort to revitalize the Orange County Housing Trust that provides ‘last mile’ funding for affordable housing projects in Anaheim.” This allowed for a housing project focused on veterans and homeless individuals with mental illness to come to fruition.

Disney also invested in a second project, Finamore Place, in Anaheim, and that project is expected to be completed by summer of 2022. That will provide 100 more housing units.

Check out the video from Disney below about the new affordable housing development.

From its early days building the town of Celebration in Orlando (which is no longer managed by Disney) to its new master-planned communities, and now this affordable housing development, it’s interesting to see what Disney has done in terms of housing communities in the past and where those plans are headed for the future.

We’ll continue to keep an eye out for more details about this project and we’ll let you know what we find.

Click here to see about the master-planned communities Disney is building!

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What do you think about Disney’s newest project? Tell us in the comments.

The post BREAKING: Disney Announces NEW Affordable Housing Project for Orlando first appeared on the disney food blog.