How much will Disney's Lake Nona campus cost? What experts say.
By Steven Ryzewski
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jan 31, 2023

Now that momentum for The Walt Disney Co.'s (NYSE: DIS) new Lake Nona campus is ramping back up, curious observers throughout Central Florida are wondering just how substantial of a capital investment the nearly 60-acre project will be.

As Orlando Business Journal recently reported, site plans submitted to the city of Orlando for the campus reveal six office buildings, two flex-office buildings and three parking garages for the campus to be built on the north side of Lake Nona Boulevard, near master developer Tavistock Development Co.'s Lake Nona Town Center.

Why this matters: Disney's Lake Nona campus is expected to become a major economic driver for the region, as it will add at least another 2,000 jobs in Central Florida, including some Disney workers moving here from California. In addition, its construction will create significant opportunities for contractors and jobs.

Expert insight, construction industry standards and previous filings by Disney itself suggest the undertaking could exceed well over $1 billion by the time employees are on site and working.

The office and flex spaces total 1.8 million square feet, while the parking garages add another 2.2 million square feet to accommodate more than 4,600 vehicles.

According to Damien Madsen, a local office expert as well as the senior vice president and managing director for Birmingham, Alabama-based Harbert Realty Services Inc., office and flex buildings of this type typically can cost about $350 to $400 per square foot to build.

That means the 1.8 million square feet of space could cost roughly $630 million-$720 million, alone.

Construction industry standards suggest the three parking garages could cost another $75 million.

Of course, the campus also will require more than just its buildings. Here, public filings made by Disney shed some light on what capital could be required:

In July 2021, Disney sought and was approved for the state's capital investment tax credit. In tax incentive documents associated with that application, Disney said it expected to invest $624 million on other equipment for the campus, such as computers and office furniture.

At the time of the filing, Disney was anticipating building a smaller campus — roughly 300,000 to 400,000 square feet, based on the documents — at a total cost of $864 million.

The expanded project now appears to be headed toward a price tag north of $1.3 billion.

Much is still unknown, and the picture of what Disney's capital investment will be in the campus will become clearer as the project continues to ramp up.

Meanwhile, John Boyd Jr., principal for The Boyd Co. Inc. — a Boca Raton-based corporate site selection firm — told OBJ it is fair to anticipate that the new Disney campus will be a high-end project.

"We have every indication that they’ll do this right," Boyd said, noting the company's diligence on its site selection and willingness to delay its plans to move 2,000 California jobs to Florida.

Similarly, Madsen noted the profound impact the company has had on the region dating back to 1970 and added, "No one does it quite like Disney."

As far as the office market in southeast Orlando and Lake Nona are concerned, there's data to back that up, as well.

Lisa McNatt, director of market analytics for CoStar Group in Orlando, provided some added perspective by explaining that the Southeast Orange County office submarket — which includes Lake Nona — has just 4.5 million square feet of space, total.

That means Disney's 1.8 million-square-foot campus represents a 40% increase in the submarket's office inventory by itself.

What's more, if it takes about three years to build, as previously was expected, it will add an average of 600,000 square feet each year to a submarket that has averaged 200,000 square feet of office construction annually over the past decade.

Executives from Disney could not be reached for further comment on the Lake Nona campus plans in time for publication.

Meanwhile, the Walt Disney Co.'s Walt Disney World — the nation's largest single-site employer, with nearly 70,000 Orlando workers — has four local theme parks: Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.

Walt Disney World alone is the top generator for visitation to Orlando, with more than 50 million people going through its turnstiles in previous years — many of those repeat visitors.

Disney also owns two area water parks, Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon, as well as several themed hotels, golf courses, a camping resort, timeshare properties, ESPN Wide World of Sports and the Disney Springs dining/shopping/entertainment district.