Orlando-based Cadence Partners, NAIOP’s 2022 developer of the year, continues to expand its distribution presence in Apopka.
The developer plans to build NorthStar II, a roughly 246,000-square-foot distribution facility at 735 and 815 Johns Rd. A site plan calls for a pair of rear-loaded buildings, each with two grade doors. Building 1 would have 108,503 square feet of space and 35 dock doors while building 2 would have 45 dock doors and span 137,524 square feet. The plans also call for 185 parking spaces and parking for 28 trailers.
However, a second conceptual plan illustrates a development scenario that would eliminate the 108,503-square-foot building in favor of a 5.3-acre laydown yard for outdoor operations or storage.
“We’re planning to do the two buildings,” said Todd Watson, Managing Partner at Cadence Partners. “What we’re trying to do is show that there’s an optionality on the site.”
A joint venture between Cadence Partners and New York-based Clarion Partners purchased the 23.5-acre property next to the Lakeside Apopka subdivision in 2022 for $2.92 million, and the Apopka City Council voted to approve the project a year later. David Murphy, Monica Wonus, and Gaby Gissy of CBRE are handling the leasing for the property.
Elsewhere in Apopka, Cadence Partners also plans to build the industrial portion of the 230-acre Wyld Oaks mixed-use development The developer paid Evans Properties $48.5 million for 88 acres in 2023 and plans to build the Kelly Industrial Park, which is set to have over 1.5 million square feet of distribution space. Plans submitted to the city call for nine buildings ranging in size from 82,750 square feet to 537,694 square feet.
NorthStar II would be located just northwest of another Cadence Partners project called NorthStar Logistics Center, a 761,240-square-foot distribution facility that consists of five buildings. NorthStar Logistics Center is partially leased with tenants including Viking SupplyNet, Sprayer Depot, and Thumbprint.
Logistics 429 at Apopka Ridge, a project from McCraney Property Company, is planned for Binion Road just southwest of the upcoming NorthStar II project. Plans for the 1.26 million-square-foot, 78-acre industrial park call for five warehouse buildings built over two phases. Phase 1 would include 116,323-square-foot and 146,904-square-foot, rear-loaded buildings for a total of 263,227 square feet. Phase 2 would consist of another 997,683 square feet and three buildings, including a pair of larger cross-dock buildings with over 420,000 square feet of distribution space each.
A Q1 2025 Orlando Industrial report from CBRE found that the Northwest Orange County submarket had nearly 32 million square feet of industrial space, with 869,075 square feet under construction. Overall, the submarket had nearly 21% of the Greater Orlando market’s existing industrial inventory and about 25% of space under construction, but it also had a vacancy rate of 19.0% compared to the Orlando market’s average rate of 9.4%. In comparison, the Southwest Orange County and Southeast Orange County submarkets had a vacancy rate of only 4.8% and 5.9%.
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