Orlando, FL—The Florida Planning and Zoning Association (FPZA) presented GAI Consultants’ (GAI) Community Solutions Group and the Orange Blossom Trail Development Board with the 2018 Outstanding Plan/Study Award for the Orange Blossom Trail (OBT) Corridor project, dubbed “OBT Next.”

Highlights/Key Facts

About the Award

• The award was presented to GAI on June 8, 2018, at an awards luncheon at the ALOFT Hotel in Downtown Orlando.
• GAI staff was joined by Vanessa Pinkney, Director, Orange Blossom Trail Development Board; Jason Reynolds, Chief Planner, Orange County Government; and Jason Burton, Chief Planner, City of Orlando, to accept the award.
• GAI Community Solutions Group (CSG) staff in attendance at the awards luncheon included Tom Kohler, Senior Director; Claudia Ray, Project Planner and Designer; Kristin Caborn, Project Manager; Patrick Panza, Project Planner; and Laura Smith, Project Planner.

About the Project

• Supplied with a grant from the State of Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity, the nonprofit Orange Blossom Trail Development Board (OBTDB) tasked GAI’s Community Solutions Group with creating a series of overall plans for an eight-mile segment of OBT from Colonial Drive (State Road 50) to the Beachline Expressway (SR 528).
• Working with the OBTDB, City of Orlando, and Orange County, GAI’s Community Solutions Group led a focused initiative to develop three complementary plans for Orange Blossom Trail—a Community Redevelopment Area Plan Update, a Safe Neighborhood Plan Update, and a Master Plan for the entire corridor.
• Grounded in extensive public outreach, community input, and data analysis, the OBT Next Master Plan addressed the changing economic environment along with evolving demographic and market conditions in the community surrounding OBT, laying a roadmap for OBT as an area that can be economically competitive and socially relevant.

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