An obstruction evaluation study is currently underway at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for a 454-foot-tall skyscraper at 1000 North Orange Avenue in the northern section of Downtown Orlando’s Central Business District. The four coordinates submitted to the FAA align with a vacant 1.474-acre site that sits on the southwest frontage of the intersection between North Orange Avenue and North Garland Avenue, also bound by West Marks Street and SunRail tracks on the south end of the block. According to the Orange County property records, the land is owned by a Hallandale Beach-based entity registered as Mustang Orange Garland LLC (Mustang) managed by Aaron Churba and Mike Daiagi. The entity, which is linked to a number of other financial and investment entities using the Mustang moniker, has owned the property since January 2005 after purchasing it from Orange Garland Realty Ent LLC for a $3,000,000.
Property records show the land is zoned AC-3A/T, falling within the Downtown Metropolitan Activity Center which allows for the development of 75 to 200 dwelling units per acre (0.75 to 3.0 FAR). 454-feet, this structure would surpass Orlando’s famed 441-foot-tall SunTrust Center at 200 S. Orange Avenue, the city’s current tallest building. 1000 N. Orange Avenue would ultimately reach 544-feet after factoring the 90-foot elevation.
Permit submission for 454-foot-tall structure at 1000 North Orange Avenue. Photo from the FAA.
Several years back, Ponte Health filed plans with the city for a development dubbed Vertical Medical City, also referred as Health Towers, which contained 1.3 million square of space feet including a 35-story mixed-use high rise tower with offices, ground floor retail, an assisted living facility and integrated parking. The project previously received FAA approval to build up to a maximum height of 444 feet. The new FAA filing indicates the structures name abbreviated as VMCORL, which can easily be deciphered as Vertical Medical City Orlando, therefore plans for the development may in-fact be back on track.
Older rendering of Vertical Medical City. Rendering courtesy of Ponte Health.
Older rendering of Vertical Medical City. Rendering courtesy of Ponte Health.
Below are aerial images from Google Maps and Google earth depicting the current state of the land.
Aerial view of the subject site. Photo from Google Maps.
Highlighted aerial view of subject site. Photo from Google Earth.
The vacant lot formerly housed the Braun Cadillac dealership, but it was demolished in 1994. The property was sold to Orange Garland Realty Ent LLC for $600,700 in 1999, then again in 2005 to Mustang, and has stood vacant ever since.
1000 N. Orange Avenue. Photo from Google Maps. (February 2020)
1000 N. Orange Avenue. Photo from Google Maps. (February 2020)
1000 N. Orange Avenue. Photo from Google Maps. (February 2020)
1000 N. Orange Avenue. Photo from Google Maps. (February 2020)
1000 N. Orange Avenue. Photo from Google Maps. (May 2021)
The FAA also received a permit filing for a tower crane of the same height as the building, which is quite unusual considering crane permits would often request for taller heights than the development and come in pairs for a building of this size.
Permit filing for a 454-foot-tall tower crane. Photo from the FAA.
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