ORLANDO, FLA. — Wendover Housing Partners has broken ground on Hawthorne Park, an affordable seniors housing community in Orlando’s Pine Hills neighborhood. The 120-unit development will replace a former shopping center and become the new anchor for the neighborhood’s town center. Designed for senior residents 55 and older, rents for Hawthorne Park apartments are expected to start at approximately $740 per month for one-bedroom units and $880 per month for two-bedroom units.
Hawthorne Park will cost an estimated $27.6 million to develop. Financing includes a $250,000 grant from Orange County, a $317,500 loan from Orange County and $2.3 million in Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) from Florida Housing Finance Corp. Slocum Platts Architects is designing the complex, and Roger B. Kennedy Inc. is the general contractor. Construction is expected to take 11 months to complete, with rental applications starting in June 2021. Hawthorne Park will serve as one of the key projects in the Pine Hills Neighborhood Improvement District — an initiative to revitalize the area and its working-class community of more than 60,000 residents.