Kettler expands its footprint to Florida

Kettler,  a McLean-based real estate estate development and property management company, has made its first acquisition in Florida. The company has purchased 18.4 acres from The Celebration Co, in Celebration, Fla.,  for a mixed-use development.  It did not disclose the purchase price. 

“This development transaction represents a significant milestone for our company. Expanding our geographical footprint and entering the Florida market has been a strategic focus of our organization,”  Robert C. Kettler, chairman and CEO of Kettler said in a statement.  “We could not be more excited to have our first acquisition in the state be in iconic Celebration.” Celebration is a master-planned community originally developed by The Walt Disney Co.

Kettler, which has built many large-scale planned communities and mixed-use developments in the Washington, D.C., metro area, plans a garden-style apartment community with parcels for hotel and age-restricted housing. It said it would oversee the apartment development and master plan, and is evaluating partnership options with qualified hotel and age-restricted housing developers to partner on the remaining parcels. 

The residential portion of the development will include 368 apartments with an variety of floorplans.  Kettler plans an extensive amenity package.  The site’s location is minutes away from Town Center, providing residents with dining and entertainment options and providing access to many of Osceola County’s large employers such as Lockheed Martin, Tupperware Brands Corp.  Walt Disney World Resort and five hospital centers.

“The Orlando area is a stable and promising submarket where we see tremendous growth opportunities for multifamily development. We look forward to working with the Celebration community to bring this project to fruition,” added Kettler.

The project’s architect is Torti Gallas and Partners, a global architectural firm with offices in Washington, D.C., Florida, California and Istanbul. Atkins North America is the development’s civil engineer.

In line with the company’s growth strategy, Kettler said it continues to evaluate acquisition and development opportunities in the Orlando submarket, the Tampa/St. Petersburg area as well as South Florida.