The final proposal for this project began by taking a look at several very different types of subsidized housing projects. These case studies had taken a look at housing for the elderly, low income families, and the disabled. Ultimately it was an elderly project in the heart of downtown that is due to expire next year that will act as the catalyst for the proposed redevelopment of the Lake of the Woods area.
In the analysis of the city there were several trends identified that eventually directed the decision to use the Lake of the Woods area as the new development. In mapping the extent of the population based off of age it was noticed that of all the age groups, the ones most likely to live in a high density environment were the elderly. The nature of this phenomenon can be attributed to several factors, but by far this portion of the overall population is already primed for living in a mid to high density environment, and with several of the subsidized towers that house the demographic about to expire, it seemed that targeting this group for the new development would be the best choice.
Further investigation into the demographics also began to reveal some very stark dividers as far ethnicity goes and its relationship with the cities lower income regions. The data seemed to suggest that a vast majority of African American and Hispanic populations resided in the lower income regions, which appeared to be for the most part to the west of I-4. There are of course exceptions to these findings, for example, the south west portion of Orlando appears to have a more equal mix of the different ethnicity's, although they are still within the lower income regions. On the other side of the spectrum the higher income areas located mostly the east of I-4 are mostly Caucasian.
The block that is being looked at for the development currently has a few vacant lots and a series of low density houses and medical offices. The vacant lots are fortunately zoned for Planned Development (PD) which will make it easier to plan for high density residential, but it also allows some freedom in developing a mixed use project. This project then focuses on developing a mixed use block that will consist of a series of high density towers and few smaller medium density 2-3 story buildings. There will be an opportunity in the larger towers to have a mercantile presence on the first 1-2 floors. Parking will be handled with a limited amount of on site parking, the majority however will be resolved with a parking garage in the high density towers. The remainder of the development will then be filled with residential units, ranging from studio sized micro units up to 2-3 bedroom units.
In terms of connect-ability this site has Lynx bus stops on both the north and south side of the site. It is also within close proximity to the Sunrail and downtown. Surrounding the site is also the medical district with several medical offices on site as well as the Orlando Regional Hospital and Arnold Palmer hospital next door.
