Downtown Orlando Could Be Growing Up, As Towering Vertical Medical City Moves Forward

Downtown Orlando could be growing up.

On about 2.5 acres in the North Quarter, what could be Orlando’s tallest high rise passed a crucial threshold, gaining approval from the city council of its site plan and preliminary designs, paving the way for more detailed construction plans to begin.

Called Vertical Medical City, plans show a 444-foot structure — three feet taller than downtown’s current tallest, the SunTrust Center — on Orange Avenue two blocks north of Colonial Drive overlooking Interstate 4. The $1-plus billion project would form the northern gateway into downtown, and would have medical offices, assisted-living and research offices, encompassing two buildings.

“We’re a complete transformation in how healthcare happens for our elders,” Tabitha Ponte, CEO of Ponte Health, the site’s Orlando-based developer. “It’s something that is unlike what is currently happening.”

She said they already have financing in place, in hopes of opening at some point in 2023.

 

Source: Orlando Sentinel