CNL Plans New 12-Story Downtown Tower

ORLANDO-A 10-year-old dream by former Mayor Glenda E. Hood to build a $200 million Downtown performing arts center is another step closer to reality today as the city studies a long-discussed land exchange with CNL Financial Group founder and chairman James M. Seneff Jr.

The 30-year-old, 742-employee CNL organization, one of the largest real estate companies in the US, wants to build a 12-story, estimated 300,000-sf tower next to the City Hall building to complement its existing 14-story, 350,000-sf tower where company growth is stymied by a lack of office space, Seneff has told the city.

The new tower would accommodate about 400 new employees and have an estimated hard construction cost of $50 million, or about $150 per sf, area brokers familiar with the plan confirm to GlobeSt.com.