Orlando Health has entered into a contract with EHOF Acquisitions II LLC to buy 25 acres in Osceola County.

The $3.8 billion nonprofit health care provider expects to close on the property at 8011 Osceola Polk Line Road in Davenport by early 2019. The organization has not yet announced its purpose for the site. Master development and infrastructure-related activities for the site are expected to begin this fall.

“This superior site, just south of Central Florida’s bustling tourist corridor and southeast of the fast-growing Four Corners area, will make possible new health care options for the thousands of residents, employees and visitors in the region and, we expect, expanded future employment opportunities,” Matt Taylor, the vice president of asset strategy for Orlando Health, said in a prepared statement.

The property will be part of a 108-acre mixed-use development called Reunion Village. That project, owned by Encore Capital Management, will feature three restaurants, a multi-tenant retail facility and 300 homes. Currently, there are leasing opportunities at the Davenport location through LandQwest Commercial Real Estate.

In addition, Orlando Health reportedly wants to buy a 51-acre cow pasture so it can bring more health care services to Apopka — and gain some strength in the northwest Orange County community. The hospital system reportedly has the property at 5401 Effie Drive near State Road 429 and West Kelly Park Road under contract, industry experts told Orlando Business Journal. Orlando Health didn’t respond to requests for comment, but it has been scooping up several medical office spaces and other properties in Central Florida this year.

Orlando Health also recently bought property in downtown Orlando and in Oviedo:

It bought a two-story, 72,000-square-foot building from Oviedo Medical Properties LLC on May 25 which it will use as medical office space.
The 121 W. Copeland Drive property in downtown Orlando was bought June 18 for $833,500. The city of Orlando and Orlando Utilities Commission previously owned the land and leased it to Orlando Health.

Meanwhile, Orlando Health is working on several projects, including a $400 million, 30-acre medical complex in Lake Mary and a freestanding emergency room near the Tupperware Brands Corp. (NYSE: TUP) headquarters on the Orange-Osceola counties border.

“We are in the midst of a health care arms race,” American College of Healthcare Architects President and local industry expert Bill Hercules previously told OBJ, referencing hospital systems’ scramble for land and/or medical properties.

Orlando Health owns nine Central Florida hospitals, including Orlando Regional Medical Center, Dr. P. Phillips Hospital, South Seminole Hospital, Health Central Hospital, the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies, South Lake Hospital and St. Cloud Regional Medical Center. It also owns 11 urgent care centers in the region, as well as several cancer centers, freestanding ERs and more. It is one of the region’s largest employers, with 23,000 workers.

Source: OBJ