If someone asked you to play a word association game using the term "Walt Disney World," your first response might be "Magic Kingdom" or maybe Mickey Mouse. It's a safe bet that "affordable housing" would be way down your list, but the economics of Florida's housing market have forced a paradigm shift. Florida living has become so expensive that Walt Disney World is building an affordable housing community for its employees in Florida.
Florida used to be synonymous with affordable housing, but several factors have changed the Sunshine State's housing market. First, a post-COVID influx of new arrivals from Los Angeles and New York with deep pockets caused property prices to spike statewide. If that weren't enough, a home insurance rate crisis and high interest rates have made buying a home in Florida harder than ever before.
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The affordability issue is felt most acutely by workers at the middle to lower end of the wage spectrum. That's historically the economic demographic that staffs Walt Disney World and the company's other Florida attractions. Business Insider reports that despite paying its employees $15 per hour, they still have trouble keeping pace with rising rents and property values.
Disney responded by teaming up with a real estate development company, the Michaels Organization, to build a new affordable community on 80 acres of land near the city of Horizon West. According to Business Insider, the community will include 1,400 housing units, and 1,000 of them will be designated as affordable units. Walt Disney World already owns the land, which is about 20 minutes west of the theme park.
“We selected this land because it is part of a thriving community, close to employers, shopping, services, public schools, and areas of rest and recreation. We feel there is no better-positioned community in Central Florida to provide residents the opportunity to start a new chapter of their story,” Disney said in a statement.
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It sounds like a great deal for Walt Disney World employees, but the plan is not without its detractors. The Horizon West area has experienced rapid population growth and development in the past several years. Area residents are becoming more vocal in expressing their belief that their community can't handle any more development. Orange County District One Commissioner Nicole Wilson has heard those complaints, and Business Insider says she voted against the project last year.
Business Insider cites U.S. Census data showing Horizon West's population has grown from 14,000 people in 2010 to 58,000 in 2020. The post-pandemic era brought about another boom, and now 75,000 people live in Horizon West. Area real estate agent Nicole Mickle told Business Insider that the Horizon West real estate market was so hot during the post-pandemic boom that she was selling homes via FaceTime.
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Change is constant in real estate, and those changes can be incredibly jarring to local residents when markets get overheated. Naturally, that causes residents to fret that their community is losing the small-town feel that originally attracted them to the area. “What some want to do is keep the integrity of the community,” Mickle told Business Insider. It looks like they will have to adjust to the new reality.
Wilson's "no" vote wasn't enough to stop the project from going forward. Construction is set to begin, and 1,400 new housing units are coming to Horizon West. This may also be a look at the future of real estate development. Attracting employees for regular jobs is becoming increasingly difficult due to the lack of affordable housing. Larger companies may take note of Horizon West and follow suit in other areas.
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