ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — 9 Investigates has exposed how Orlando taxpayers spent more than $1 million with nothing in return for two failed Parramore developments.
But now, Channel 9 reporter Lori Brown has uncovered that nearly $6 million more was spent on two other projects that never produced any of the single-family homes promised.
Brown asked why so much money was spent with so little to show for it.
But before she did, Brown visited a nice home in Parramore, sitting empty and surrounded by a locked iron fence. The same can be said for the rest of the neighborhood, where there are street lights and sewer hookups, but no houses and no people.
PDF: Details of Carver Park development
“Nobody wants to invest in a single family home to live in in Parramore, with its current crime reputation," said Parramore property owner Phil Cowherd.
The project, known as Carver Park, promised to bring 57 single family homes to Parramore. The city of Orlando spent nearly $33 million on site remediation and infrastructure, but the homes originally planned were never built.
Brown discovered that literally a stone’s throw away sits another plot of vacant land, which was once the site of Parramore Village.
Back in October 2007, Mayor Buddy Dyer said Parramore Village “will be one of the projects that is noted by people all over the Southeast.”
Parramore Village was supposed to have 51 townhomes and 24 single family homes. The city spent nearly $3 million on the failed plans.
What’s there is a far cry from the city's vision in 2006.
“We've got four major projects in Parramore,” then City Commissioner Daisy Lynum said back in 2007. “That's over 400 houses."
So 9 Investigates asked Dyer about the public money spent and the lack of new housing
“Why is there empty land where hundreds of houses were promised?” Brown asked Dyer.
“Sometimes, we're more fortunate that things don't happen,” Dyer responded.
Dyer explained that's because some of the land that was to be developed in Parramore will now be used for the soccer stadium and the K-8 school.
“What about Carver Court and Parramore Village?” Brown asked.
“The other housing sites are available for redevelopment,” Dyer answered, before an aide put an end to reporters’ questions.
Just four miles away, a project identical to the Carver Court plans stands at Bumby Avenue and Robinson Street.
“You're going to see similar houses, okay, full of people,” Phil Cowherd told Brown.
Cowherd's family business owns 100 residential units in Parramore. For years, Cowherd has urged the city to install 30 iris cameras at some crime prone locations in the neighborhood.
“There's no reason it can't be a nice place to live, if the city will do what it's supposed to do,” he said.
Meanwhile, Carver Park's developer, the Orlando Housing Authority, says the project failed, partly because of hurricanes, skyrocketing construction costs and the discovery of arsenic in the soil. O.H.A. did build the project's apartment complex and townhome portion, which created 120 units.
WFTV
