ORLANDO, Fla. — The Orlando Housing Authority has purchased the former Guardian Care Nursing & Rehabilitation Center property in the Lake Mann Homes neighborhood, with plans to redevelop the site into a mixed-use, mixed-finance housing community.
The property has a significant history in Orlando. It originally opened as Dr. P. Phillips Memorial Hospital, the first hospital in the city dedicated to serving Black residents during segregation. More recently, it operated as the Guardian Care Nursing & Rehabilitation Center before the facility relocated to a new building in 2021. The property has remained vacant since then.
After about a year of negotiations and planning, the Orlando Housing Authority acquired the site for $2.75 million.
Housing officials said the redevelopment is expected to be a mixed-finance and mixed-use project, meaning funding would come from multiple sources and the development could include more than 100 affordable housing units along with nonresidential space.
“It’s extremely impactful,” said Ayub Fleming, vice president of operations for the Orlando Housing Authority.
Orlando Housing Authority CEO Vivian Bryant said the project presents an opportunity to incorporate additional community services into the development.
“We look at this as an opportunity to blend in medical services with housing that would be affordable,” Bryant said.
The property’s history also carries personal significance for Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, who was born at the former hospital.
Housing authority officials emphasized that plans remain in the early stages and could change during the permitting and development process. Final details, including the exact mix of housing, services and commercial space, have not yet been determined.
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