What are the important components to a thriving economy for the Greater Orlando Community? What is currently fueling the market engine for Orlandoans? How might your business grow or be better positioned because of an understanding of our marketplace? Will deepening my knowledge economic drivers make me a better neighbor?
At The Collaborative’s next Six Questions luncheon on Thursday, April 12, we will be hosting Tim Giuliani, President and CEO of the Orlando Economic Partnership. We are eager to hear him address some of these questions as we are all striving to love thy neighbor. How well do you know the Greater Orlando Community? Did you know?
1. Age Distribution
Age Range Orange Seminole Osceola Lake
0-14 18.7% 17.1% 20.2% 15.9%
15-24 14.7% 12.5% 14.0% 10.7%
25-44 30.8% 27.9% 28.6% 21.2%
45-64 24.6% 27.3% 24.0% 25.7%
65-84 9.8% 13.3% 11.6% 23.6%
85+ 1.3% 1.8% 1.5% 2.8%
Median Age 34.9 39.2 35.6 46.7
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2016 American Community Survey)
2. Average rent climbed past $1,000 for a one-bedroom in 2017, and is higher for new buildings downtown. The city’s first real downtown high-rise office tower in 10 years is also being built, the 28-story Church Street Plaza. (Source: The Orlando Sentinel, January 21, 2018)
3. SunRail is a $615 million investment that stretches 31 miles from Debary, the north end of the Orlando region, to south Orange County near the Orlando International Airport (MCO). The second phase, which will extend the line further north in Volusia County and south into Osceola County, will include five more stations that cover an additional 30 miles. Also forthcoming is the Brightline train, a $2.2 billion investment, which will use the existing Florida East Coast Railway corridor and build new track along State Road 528 between Cocoa and Orlando to create a route from Orlando to Miami. While the Orlando station is near completion, Phase II of laying the track is scheduled to begin in 2018. (Source: Orlando MSA Data Sheet, Orlando Economic Partnership)
4. The I-4 Ultimate project is a 21-mile makeover totaling $2.3 billion. It has used 2.2 million cubic yards of sand (as measured while still in the ground) and the team expects to use another 4.5 million cubic yards before completion in 2021. That’s enough to fill the Great Pyramid of Giza twice. (Source: FDOT I-4 Ultimate Improvement Project website)
5. Florida is home to one of the nation’s largest defense and homeland security industries, and few states can even come close to matching the scale and scope of its network of major contractors and suppliers. From ammunition to encryption technologies, Florida companies are at the leading edge of all major military and government markets. There are eleven of these companies in the Greater Orlando area. (Source: Enterprise Florida, Defense and Homeland Security)
