ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Orange County is moving forward with a plan to demolish and relocate residents from a historically blighted condo complex.
For more than two decades, residents have raised concerns about crime and safety at the Tymber Skan condo complex off Texas Avenue.
Over the next two years, the county says its case workers will be busy relocating residents as it moves forward with a legal path toward demolition.
According to Orange County, approximately 84 percent of Tymber Skan has already been demolished, but eight buildings remain where residents still live.
County officials said one of those buildings has no running water, and there are so many code violations that officials consider it a “life safety threat” for residents.
“We can’t save this place, and trust me, I tried,” said Cynthia Claytor, a 72-year-old Tymber Skan resident.
Claytor said she spent 12 years fighting to improve conditions at the Tymber Skan condo complex.
“Even at my age, I was out there walking around the complex, trying to stop people from doing things they weren’t supposed to be doing,” said Claytor.
She said over the last year, she’s also fought against the county’s Tymber Skan demolition plan, because she couldn’t afford a new mortgage.
But on Tuesday, Claytor told commissioners she believes the only path forward includes tearing down her home.
“We are deeply in debt and we have so many code violations, there’s just no way we can come out of it,” said Claytor.
According to the county, conditions at the complex have deteriorated over the last two decades, with illegal dumping and squatting prevalent.
County officials also detailed historic crime.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings recalled the moment his press conference was interrupted in 2014, as he toured the troubled complex as Sheriff at the time.
In 2021, the body of 19-year-old Valencia College student Miya Marcano was also found near the complex.
On Tuesday, county officials stated conditions have deteriorated so far that staff no longer canvass at the property because of safety concerns.
“As a 37-and-a-half-year law enforcement officer, I know when I see something that’s unsafe, and this is it,” said Mayor Jerry Demings.
On Tuesday, Commissioners voted to exercise a legal option to demolish the remaining buildings, work to sell the property, and relocate residents.
That court-driven process to end the condominium’s legal existence will begin with a plaintiff filing a petition to seek “equitable termination of the condominium and subsequent partition by sale.”
Ultimately, a hearing will be held to determine whether that condo’s legal existence could be terminated.
The County expects that legal process to take at least a year and it could take another year at least to determine what each owner and lien holder is entitled to.
The county says the process will allow for the property to be sold without the consent of the condo unit owners, and a third-party “termination trustee” will be used to manage the sale of the property.
“It’s lakeside property. It is a good property, and so I think at this time, I feel like it’s better for them to shut it down because there’s no saving it,” said Claytor.
Mayor Jerry Demings told Channel 9 the county was committed to making sure residents like Claytor can transition to better housing.
“We have a program that we will set up to assist them to be able to move. Those persons who own property, who’ve been taking care of their property, they deserve to be compensated for that property, and we’re going to help them,” said Demings.
He also told Channel 9 he believes there is still time to turn the property into a county success story and floated the idea of using the county’s housing trust fund to turn the property into affordable homes.
“We’ve taken properties that the county had that were surplus, and we’ve now turned those properties into good quality homes for individuals,” said Demings. “I want us to move forward to make it something that the entire community can be proud of.”
The next step is to make the county’s intent to demolish Tymber Skan official. The item will be on the consent agenda at a Board of County Commissioners meeting scheduled for August.
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
©2026 Cox Media Group
