At this price, the purchase averages about $274,000 an acre, which would be a crazy, ridiculously good price (for Universal) on commercial property in the heart of Orlando's tourist zone. A quick search of commercial property sales databases online showed asking prices of $500,000-$650,000 an acre for commercial land in the area bounded by Disney and Universal.
The Sand Lake Road complex that Universal bought is spread across several parcels, but the main parcel, located northeast of the Orange County Convention Center, is about 340 acres. That's plenty of room for a major theme park, including hotels and other retail development. For comparison, Universal Studios Florida occupies 107 acres.
Want to put this purchase in broader perspective? Try this:
Universal bought 475 acres of land for 70 million less than it cost Disney to build Radiator Springs Racers.
— Taylor Strickland (@PWT101) February 3, 2016
Universal has not yet announced any plans for the property.
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Build three parks, increase operating hours, improve transport connections and you will see people move over to Universal, and their resorts.
As great as the Universal resorts are now, they are seen by a majority as a (superb) diversion for a few days.
Whatever happens, I trust Universal to do an amazing job. My only hope is for a monorail to connect the new area to the old area, as nobody wants to ride buses on I-Drive or I-4.
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