News
Orlando, Fla. (August 15, 2022) – The Leonard and Marjorie Williams Family YMCA continues to take shape in Orlando’s highly anticipated Packing District, where members of the Central Florida chapter of NAIOP recently met for a tour of the property and to learn more about the facilities that will soon be available for the community to enjoy.
Foundry Commercial Owner Representative Mark Meyer, a longtime member of the YMCA’s development committee, was engaged in the project in 2019 to lead the YMCA through Foundry’s proprietary Preliminary Program Study (PPS) process, a comprehensive study with a focus on an organization’s real estate, facilities/programs, and functional requirements, and also includes conceptual preliminary architecture and engineering studies.
After a formal bidding process, Foundry was named the owner’s representative for the YMCA in the project and has overseen the project’s logistics, timeline, and budget. Despite a global pandemic and resulting supply chain issues, the project is expected to be completed within the YMCA’S timeframes and under budget. The YMCA location is expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2022.
“Foundry Commercial is proud of our longstanding relationship with the YMCA. Over the past 15 years, Foundry has donated hundreds of hours in owner representative services to the meaningful mission of the YMCA of Central Florida, and we’ve been involved in the renovation and redevelopment of projects spanning the following Florida counties: Orange, Osceola, Lake, Seminole, Brevard, and Marion,” stated Meyer. “Foundry’s focus in projects of this nature is to ensure we keep the project within the agreed-upon scope, overseeing scheduling, procurement and keeping the project on time and within the overall development budget created during the preliminary Program Study. It has been one of the great honors of my career to be a part of this unique real estate development project, which will undoubtedly play a vital role in the community for decades to come.”
The Leonard and Marjorie Williams Family YMCA will be approximately 31,000-square-foot facility uniquely situated near downtown Orlando, bordered by a city park, the Orlando Tennis Centre, and residential space that are under construction as well. A long-awaited public-private partnership in the Mercy Drive Opportunity Zone, the Packing District will also be home to 4Roots, an Orlando-based nonprofit alliance dedicated to building a better food future and ending food insecurity in the Central Florida community.
As noted above, the Central Florida chapter of NAIOP (the Commercial Real Estate Development Association) was recently invited to a networking and touring event at the facility, where Meyer and other key project partners cast a vision for what the future holds at the YMCA and other initiatives within the Packing District.
“The planning and forethought that has been put into this project has truly been outstanding, combining a wonderful collection of health, wellness, lifestyle, and community in this parcel of land just outside downtown Orlando,” added Meyer. “We’ve truly enjoyed playing a role in it.”
To learn more about Foundry Commercial’s Preliminary Program Study process, contact Mark Meyer at 407-835-3223 or David Kafel at 919-987-1007. The results of a Preliminary Program Study include a detailed published report representing 100% of the overall cost for development and related timelines. This report is useful for short- and long-term decision making by organizational leadership with 1, 3, 5, 10-year goals/objectives/thresholds.