Avalon Park is bracing for a wave of new commercial development and new jobs when Orange County opens a temporary interchange linking the UCF campus and the Innovation Way corridor with SR 528, Lake Nona’s Medical City and Orlando International Airport.

Eric Marks, senior vice president and chief operating officer at Avalon Park Group, says Avalon Park is approaching the halfway point of its approved one million square feet of commercial space, and new development resulting from the transportation link could add as much as 550,000 square feet of commercial space at Avalon Park within five to seven years.

“As the middle link between the UCF campus and the UCF College of Medicine, we’re perfectly located to serve both hubs simultaneously,” says Marks. “The economic impact in terms of new employment and new development will benefit the entire East Orlando region, and we anticipate an increase in demand within the first year.”

Medical City, which also includes the new V.A. Hospital, Nemours Children’s Hospital and the Sanford-Burnham Institute for Medical Research, is expected to generate more than 5,000 new jobs over the next five years, including doctors, medical staff, technicians and support workers. The widening Alafaya Trail is set to begin next June.

Marks says Avalon Park will benefit from two types of commercial users.

“We will see a significant increase in demand for space to serve our existing community,” he says. Avalon Park now includes more than 3,500 homes, with a mixed-use downtown district that includes offices, shops and stores, along with condominiums and rental apartments.

“The evolution of a downtown is directly related to the maturity and needs of the surrounding community,” says Ross Halle, vice president of architecture and town planning for Avalon Park Group. “Access via a transportation network is critical to this evolutionary process and will be afforded to Avalon Park with the connection of innovation way to the Beachline. This type of “organic growth” results in a healthy development pattern and is the underlying principal of downtown Avalon Park.”

“Downtown Avalon Park is a tremendous asset,” says Marks. “The opportunity to walk out of your office building onto a downtown street within a block or two of dozens of restaurants, cafes, shops and stores is very appealing.”

Avalon Park’s equidistance from the main UCF campus and Medical City will attract a second group of service businesses and providers that want to serve both markets, according to Marks.

“From service businesses such as health care, insurance and legal to primary employers such as software, telecommunications and research and development firms, Avalon Park offers a unique environment,” he said.