The Orlando Magic and partner SED Development have announced JMA Ventures and Machete Group as the team that will deliver a planned sports and entertainment district adjacent to Amway Center, home of the NBA basketball franchise.
The downtown Orlando project is anticipated to include a 260-room full-service hotel with 16,000 square feet of meeting and conference space, 270 residential units, 200,000 square feet of Class A office space, 125,000 square feet of retail, a 3,500-capacity live event venue, an urban town square, and more than 1,100 parking spaces.
While a timeline for the project has not been disclosed, towards the end of last year the Magic indicated that the venture would begin in late 2023. The team has been plotting such a development for around a decade.
“JMA Ventures and Machete Group are simply the best of the best,” said Alex Martins, CEO of the Orlando Magic. “We are thrilled to have them take the reins and guide the sports and entertainment district into something Orlando will be proud to have in the heart of downtown.”
JMA Ventures is a commercial real estate development and investment firm with experience of such projects in the NBA. JMA developed Downtown Commons, a 1,000,000-square-foot mixed-use development adjacent to Golden 1 Center, home of the Sacramento Kings. Downtown Commons has revitalised downtown Sacramento and is widely regarded as one of the most successful arena- or stadium-adjacent mixed-use projects in the US.
Todd Chapman, CEO of JMA Ventures, said: “Central Florida is a fantastic market for this type of mixed-use development, and this project will further energise downtown Orlando. We look forward to working with the Orlando community to bring the sports and entertainment district to life.”
Machete Group has an extensive background in sports and entertainment venue development. The firm’s projects include Amway Center; Chase Center and the adjacent Thrive City mixed-use district in San Francisco; and TQL Stadium in Cincinnati.
