Orlando Magic want 2.5 acres of land to build downtown training facility

ORLANDO, Fla. — Though one of their projects has faced delays, the Orlando Magic will ask the City Council on Monday for permission to start another.

The team’s latest request is to purchase a 2.58-acre parking lot along West Central Boulevard for $5.1 million to build a basketball training facility equipped with an an orthopedic center and a community health component.

A timeline for the project was not immediately clear, but if the City Council approves it, the project could be built in the next few years.

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Back in 2014, the City Council approved a plan to build a sports and entertainment complex in downtown Orlando. That project, now estimated at $500 million, would be built across the street from the Amway Center and include a 300-room hotel, office and event and retail space, along with an open-air plaza.

In 2018, Orlando Magic CEO Alex Martins told Channel 9 that, after a decade of discussions, planning and an evolving investor group, the ground is solid to make it happen, and turn it into “a destination 365 days a year.”

During that same news conference, officials said the project would begin all at once and not in phases, and be completed by 2021.

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A team spokesman said that since the Orlando Rescue Mission has been relocated and the property has been demolished, the project is ready to take the next steps, which include finalizing the conceptual design. A spokesperson said the goal is to complete the project by 2022.

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