Orlando sits on the cutting edge of smart building design technology, automation, and buildings of the future. Some might say it began with Walt Disney and his “City of the Future,” EPCOT, which stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. And, indeed, Disney World Resort remains in a leader in sustainability and smart building design, with the new net zero energy-designed McDonald’s quick-service restaurant taking up 8,024-square-feet of real estate on Disney property.

But you don’t have to be one of the biggest names in entertainment in the Sunshine State to embrace sustainability, smart buildings, and automation systems in your Orlando business or apartment complex.
As leaders in technology rapidly migrate to Orlando, they’ll expect high-tech spaces to live, work, and play.

More than Just “The Mouse”
Orlando’s tech talent pool has grown by 30% between 2016 and 2020. Those numbers may well continue to increase as tech and finance companies flee Silicon Valley and Wall Street for the more affordable region of Central Florida. Currently, Orlando is the seventh-fastest growing metropolitan U.S. market, amongst the 42 analyzed by CBRE in the organization’s 2021 Scoring Tech Talent Report.

The growing labor pool, coupled with the lower cost of living, makes Orlando and its surrounding suburbs a highly desirable region for commercial real estate developers and property managers. From vacation communities to technology parks, or collections of commercial buildings designed for tech companies and manufacturing facilities of every ilk, Central Florida represents opportunities for commercial real estate investors.

When many people think of Orlando, they think of a certain famous mouse and one of the largest, most popular theme parks in the world. But a growing workforce, competitive cost-of-living, and the region’s favorable weather is driving more businesses to settle in the Sunshine State. Increasingly, real estate developers are discovering the vast benefits of purchasing commercial property in Orlando.