Cornerstone Group scoops up Orlando development site for $8.6M

As part of its bid to build a high-end apartment complex near Central Florida’s largest shopping center, the Cornerstone Group recently paid $8.6 million for a development site totalling more than 15 acres.

The Orlando Business Journal reported that Cornerstone, acting through an affiliate, bought the 8.14-acre plot at 3660 Maguire Boulevard and the former Anthem College site that measures 8.36 acres at 3710 Maguire Boulevard. The seller was MMM Lakewood, a longtime landowner in the area.

Now that the deal has closed, Cornerstone can continue with its development of Alexan at Audubon, a $65 million luxury apartment complex with 356 units. The Orlando Business Journal reported that Cornerstone took over the project from Trammell Crow Residential, which sold its interest in the development earlier this year.

Bill Kassebaum, vice president of acquisitions and development at Cornerstone, told the publication that Alexan at Audubon’s apartments would be marketed toward millennials. The company has previously concentrated on affordable housing.

The neighboring Fashion Square Mall had been the subject of a foreclosure lawsuit after an affiliate of its owner, UP Development, allegedly defaulted on a $42 million loan from the Bancorp. The lender became Fashion Square’s master lessee after a judge approved UP Development’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy settlement. [Orlando Business Journal] — Sean Stewart-Muniz