Strategic Corridors
As the Metro-Orlando core continues to approach build-out and growth pressures extend into the surrounding counties, Lake County finds itself uniquely positioned to absorb a significant portion of Central Florida’s future growth. Through on-going and extensive strategic planning efforts, the Lake County Office of Elevate Lake has identified four (4) major strategic corridors that will serve as significant economic drivers in Lake County over the coming decades.
The information below provides a brief summary of four of Lake County’s more prominent strategic growth corridors.
Wellness Way
On a regional scale, the southern portion of Lake County is endowed with unique assets upon which Lake County is planning to create a regionally significant mixed-use, employment center dubbed "The Wellness Way." The Wellness Way corridor includes more than 15,000 acres located inside of Interstate-4, Florida’s Turnpike, and U.S. Highway 27.
The corridor is enhanced by State Road 429 and the soon-to-be completed Wekiva Parkway. Immediately to the east of the corridor is Horizon's West, a master planned community in Orange County that will integrate seamlessly with Wellness Way and is just 30 minutes away from the Orlando International Airport. Wellness Way will capitalize on the human performance training, nutrition, sports medicine and health sciences work being done at the National Training Center, South Lake Hospital and Lake-Sumter State College, among others while protecting South Lake County’s existing natural resources through effective master planning.
Upon completion, Wellness Way will house upwards of 15,500 housing units and over 11 million square feet of non-residential uses.
To see Maps and get updates on the Wellness Way Area visit https://www.lakecountyfl.gov/wellnessway/#/
Wolf Branch Innovation District
The soon to be completed Wekiva Parkway will act as the final leg of the outer beltway around the City of Orlando and will create significant economic development opportunities in Northeast Lake County. The new extension will link State Road 429 in Apopka to Interstate-4 and State Road 417 in Sanford. A significant portion of the Wekiva Parkway will travel through Lake County and will include an extension linking the Parkway to State Road 46, U.S. Highway 441 and the City of Mount Dora The Lake County Office of Elevate Lake is working jointly with the City of Mount Dora to plan and develop a significant employment center situated on approximately 1,300 acres along the Parkway extension into Mount Dora. An existing Joint Planning Agreement between the City of Mount Dora and Lake County has established consistent land use classifications on the proposed properties and both parties collaborated on the creation of a detailed market analysis, which is intended to guide the planning and development of the Wolf Branch Innovation District.
It is anticipated that the Wolf Branch Innovation District will include a wide range of land uses including commercial, light industrial and retail. To see maps and stay updated on the Wolf Branch Innovation District, please visit https://ci.mount-dora.fl.us/722/Wolf-Branch-Innovation-District
Minneola Interchange
In 2017, the Florida DOT completed construction on the new Minneola Interchange along Florida’s Turnpike in South Lake County. The interchange is located at the epicenter of the City of Minneola’s recently created CRA, which spans roughly 4,000 acres and will be home to four (4) planned mixed-use developments. In total, the four developments have entitlements for over 8,000 residential units, 1.69 million square feet of retail and office space and 1.4 million square feet of industrial space.
The Minneola Interchange is conveniently located 20 minutes from downtown Orlando and 30 minutes from the Orlando International Airport. Interstate 4 and Interstate 75 are both within a 20-minute drive of the interchange.
To see Maps of the Minneola Interchange area please visit http://www.minneola.us/minneola-mountain-properties-community-redevelopment-area/webforms/boundary-map
Christopher C. Ford Commerce Park
Strategically located on U.S. Highway 27 at the crossroads of State Road 19 and Florida's Turnpike, the Ford Commerce Park is Lake County’s largest existing industrial park and is home to over a dozen manufacturing and distribution businesses.
