Orange County Commissioner Jennifer Thompson hopes to breathe new life into Innovation Way.
The newly elected District 4 commissioner met with the eight landowners along the Innovation Way corridor during her first week in office in January to discuss their goals and what they view as hurdles to those goals. Now she is taking the steps necessary to get Innovation Way on the Orange County Board of Commissioner's agenda to gauge interest in moving forward with the project.
"There's a real sense of urgency," she said. "In the last three years, we've lost 8,000 people with graduate degrees or higher to other states. We're not providing opportunity for them here. They want a vibrant community they can grow in."
Innovation Way — a vision former Mayor Rich Crotty touted since 2005 and one Thompson has been advocating for since 2003 — would connect University of Central Florida, the Lake Nona medical city and the Orlando International Airport with a multimodal transportation road to become Metro Orlando’s new economic hub.
There has been slow progress since then. Last June, Orange County commissioners became divided on the proposal for Innovation Way East — a plan to build 6,000 homes on rural land in southeast Orange County. The project flat-lined and died with a 3-3 vote. The developers, Suburban Land Reserve, are restricted to a two-year waiting period before returning to the Commission, but Jim Pratt, vice president of SLR's Florida operations, said they hope to come back sooner. He said that having Thompson in office might give them a better chance at doing that.
"We feel like she’s brought a lot of energy, and she’s on the right track for improving the quality of life in east Orange County," Pratt said. "Our determination now is to help her succeed in her vision to move Innovation Way forward and the [Beachline] Interchange."
Thompson said SLR should make some changes to their proposal — mainly the development of what the county deems to be environmentally sensitive land between Turkey Creek and the Econlockhatchee River — before they bring their project back to the board to satisfy the Commission as well as the residents.
Road is key
Jay Berlinsky, principal for SC-Advisors, which represents Innovation Place — a 1,200-acre plot in Innovation Way — said in order to get the project moving, the county must start by building the road through Innovation Way
"Once that's in place, all the planning issues will begin to come to you, and you can leverage them and make things happen. But until you have the fundamental infrastructure, then the reality is not there for landowners to attract employment centers," he said. "The success of the medical city and the hospitals coming online should be a catalyst for Innovation Way to take the next step and facilitate the jobs and growth in that area."
One contention among the landowners is the burden of paying for the road and infrastructure. Thompson said they don't mind chipping in, but they do not want to be the sole provider.
"They think the county should pony up something," she said. "If you don't build the road, they will not come."
Interchange at stake
SLR owns the land where Monument Parkway meets the Beachline and they told the county last year that they would not build the Beachline interchange unless Innovation Way East is approved. Now millions of dollars promised to the interchange construction by the Orlando/Orange County Expressway Authority hangs in the balance.
"I'm concerned every single day that that money's going to be gone," Thompson said.
She has a "hand-shake" agreement with OOCEA to let her know if they plan to move those funds. She said the interchange might not be essential to residents now, since another interchange opened near the jail last year, but it's an integral part of Innovation Way.
"If one big company moves into Innovation Way, that existing interchange will become inadequate," she said.
Besides trying to get the Commission's attention, Thompson is working to create an Innovation Fund, which will help develop and expand middle-sized companies. She is also looking into creating an Enterprise Zone, which will give companies moving into the corridor a tax break.
"I’m going to make it my mission to move Innovation Way forward," she said. "I’ve tried to make it very clear at the county that jobs are my top priorities and in my mind, the best regional game changer is Innovation Way."