Local

Why downtown projects haven’t broken ground and what happens next

ORLANDO, Fla. — Editor’s note: This story is available as a result of a content partnership between WFTV and the Orlando Business Journal.

Within the past year or so, more than a half-dozen projects planned either in or immediately around downtown Orlando have been announced — promising to reshape the city’s urban core and its skyline.

Read: What is sargassum, the 5,000-mile-long mat of seaweed heading toward Florida?

Several months later, none have broken ground, and only one — Lincoln Property Co.’s 32-story The Edge mixed-use tower — has gone so far as to fence off its project site.

The unplanned pause for at least eight projects puts into focus the difficult lending environment for any commercial real estate development amid high inflation and rising interest rates — but especially downtown high-rises.

Click here to read the full story on the Orlando Business Journal’s website.