GAI’s Community Solutions Group has partnered with the University of Central Florida and Winter Park Health Foundation to provide a Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) plan for the historically African-American town of Eatonville. This includes GAI Senior Director’s Thomas R. Kohler’s service as interim CRA Director.

One of the most important strategic components was guiding the Town’s planning efforts for a 95-acre tract that has been in public ownership for 60 years. Owned by the Orange County School Board, negotiations have been completed to solicit and partner with a property master developer for a program that will include a mix of office, retail, residential, and civic uses.

Our team has been involved in all aspects of advancing this site as a catalyst for Eatonville’s economic future, from the initial meetings, to property master planning, coordinated engineering services, and grants for infrastructure to support development. Specific services have included the preparation of an updated master plan, drafting the request for qualifications (RFQ) and request for proposal (RFP) documents to solicit and identify prospective developers, and guiding the selection process. Our team has also participated in resilience planning as part of a FEMA hurricane reconstruction plan.