Creative Village

SPONSOR A STUDENT SECTIONS GIVE DIGITAL ACCESS Where do students of new UCF/Valencia campus live? Mostly not downtown. By ANNIE MARTIN ORLANDO SENTINEL | AUG 02, 2019 The University of Central Florida and Valencia College students who are to attend the new downtown campus that opens Aug. 26 will largely come from areas outside the downtown core, numbers from the institutions show. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda / Orlando Sentinel) The new downtown University of Central Florida and Valencia College campus, a centerpiece of the Creative Village, has been touted as a key part of the city’s revitalization efforts and a source of new opportunities for residents of Parramore and the surrounding areas. But the students who will attend the new campus this fall largely are coming from outlying areas, including Winter Garden, Oviedo and east Orange County, according to an Orlando Sentinel analysis of preliminary numbers from the University of Central Florida and Valencia. But the students who will attend the new campus this fall largely are coming from outlying areas, including Winter Garden, Oviedo and east Orange County, according to an Orlando Sentinel analysis of preliminary numbers from the University of Central Florida and Valencia. Nearly 7,000 students, the majority in their late teens or 20s, have signed up for classes at the new campus, which is slated to open Aug. 26. Registration at both schools is still ongoing, but the data provides an early look at the students who will be the first to attend the campus that’s been in the works for years and first announced in 2014. The complex features a 15-story building that will include a 600-bed dorm, as well as classrooms and Valencia’s culinary arts and hospitality programs. Across Livingston Street is the new Dr. Phillips Academic Commons, which is slated to have more classrooms, a library and space for studying and tutoring. Aside from degree programs, Valencia will offer shorter term training opportunities in areas like construction and manufacturing. The new campus is part of the 68-acre Creative Village, which also will have offices and mixed-income housing. Both institutions say they hope the new campus will open doors to people who live in Parramore and the surrounding areas, where people are less likely to have college degrees than in other parts of Central Florida. “Over time, we believe we will see larger and larger numbers of students who actually live in Parramore choosing to enroll in the university,” said Gordon Chavis, the associate vice president for enrollment services at UCF. The ZIP codes provided by the university represent addresses provided by students, which could be their families’ home addresses or apartments they’ve rented on their own. The largest share of those enrolled at the new downtown campus, 194 people or 2.8 percent, lives in the 32817 ZIP code, which takes in the neighborhood that includes a lot of student apartments just to the west of UCF’s main campus. Of the UCF and Valencia students who have enrolled at the new campus, 91 of them, or 1.3 percent, listed addresses in the 32801 or 32805 ZIP codes, which include the core downtown area, as well as the Parramore neighborhood and surrounding areas. The new campus is on the western edge of the 32801 area. “We’re not surprised that there aren’t a lot of students who have moved down there the very first instant that it’s open,” said Pamela Carroll, the dean of UCF’s College of Community Innovation and Education, which is anchoring the downtown campus. But Carroll and Falecia Williams, the president of Valencia’s west campus, are hopeful that will change, pointing to efforts by both institutions to draw students in. “I do believe over time that is going to increase — the percentage of individuals who might not have done anything will take advantage of the degree programs there as well as the short-term training programs there,” Williams said. Construction continued on Aug. 2 for the new downtown campus for the University of Central Florida and Valencia College. (Annie Martin) At just more than 22,000 residents, the population of the 32805 zip code is smaller than others in Central Florida. But just 21 percent of people age 25 and older in that area have an associates degree or higher, compared with 42.4 percent of Orange County residents, according to data from the U.S. Census. However, UCF is already working with schools and other community organizations in Parramore and adjacent neighborhoods, Carroll said. Students and faculty provide homework help and dinner to students and parents at the OCPS Academic Center for Excellence, which is just across Parramore Avenue from the new campus. They’ve also provided vision, hearing, dental and language testing for children at the nearby Callahan Neighborhood Center. And they’ve secured grant funding that will help adults in the community earn their GEDs and industry certifications, she said. At Valencia, the number of people from the 32805 ZIP code taking for-credit courses at Valencia has increased by about 20 percent over the past year. Valencia staff has visited Jones High School, where most of the students from the 32805 ZIP code attend, several times over the past year, doing a “teach-in” so students could experience a lectures from college instructors and even attending football games. More than 200 Jones graduates have enrolled in Valencia courses this fall. But for now, areas of Seminole County bordering the main campus, as well as Avalon Park and other parts of east Orange County likely will be better represented at the new campus. Another 115 students will travel from the ZIP code that includes Horizons West and downtown Winter Garden. And long-standing concerns about gentrification in Parramore and the surrounding areas remain, said Cynthia Harris, who has served on Valencia’s Black Advisory Committee. The 32805 ZIP code has lost more than 2,000 residents since 2000, data from the U.S. Census shows. Rising rents have forced out families who used to live in neighborhoods like Parramore, Harris said. One reason why few students with home addresses in 32805 are enrolled at the main campus may be that their families have moved elsewhere, she said, and they’ll likely be replaced by people with higher salaries. “Those are the people who can afford to live there, and those people will eventually go to that school,” she said. “But it puts the people that are already here at a disadvantage.” That’s a concern any time you see changes in an urban area, Carroll said, but the university is working to provide rent-controlled properties, as well as academic opportunities to residents. Additionally, an apartment complex just to the north of the new campus will offer discounted rent to low-income residents and is not geared toward students. “The way I will define success for the downtown campus is we will work with the community and 20 years from now, we will see that those legacy residents have what they define as a better life in Parramore and we will have new residents added to Parramore,” Carroll said. [email protected] or 407-420-5120 Annie Martin Orlando Sentinel Annie Martin covers higher education. A Washington state native, Annie graduated from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She previously worked for the Daytona Beach News-Journal and the Battle Creek Enquirer in Michigan. Annie is an avid runner and reader. She loves exploring all of Florida’s natural wonders. e-newspaper About Us Subscribe for unlimited access Contact Us GrowthSpotter Pro Soccer USA Classieds Sign up for our newsletters Place an Ad Privacy Policy Terms of Service Copyright © 2019, Orlando Sentinel SPONSOR A STUDENT SECTIONS GIVE DIGITAL ACCESS ORANGE COUNTY NEWS Creative Village: UCF-Valencia campus expected to be hottest area for downtown Orlando growth By RYAN GILLESPIE ORLANDO SENTINEL | AUG 07, 2019 When the old Amway Arena, site of the Orlando Magic’s glory days, was demolished in 2012, the area around it became a blank slate for city planners who dreamed big about what could come next. Long before the arena was history, officials relished the opportunity to reshape 68 acres it controlled in its downtown core. With help from a task force, they settled on a “village” concept with an education hub that could attract high-wage digital media jobs downtown, with the prospect of spurring a bounty of new development as it grows. This month, the area west of Interstate 4 will spring to life as college students begin attending classes at a joint UCF and Valencia downtown campus on the same land where Shaq and Penny wowed Magic fans. Welcome to Creative Village. “You can’t really see it from I-4, not that many people drive on Parramore [Avenue], so a lot of people are going to think ‘wow that happened overnight?’” Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said. “And really, it didn’t happen overnight — it happened over a period of 15 years.” City Hall estimates more than $1.5 billion in development could eventually come into the neighborhood, with the long-term vision of developing a kindergarten to post-graduate educational pipeline within walking distance to thousands of homes and a thriving employment center. The vision: Reshaping the landscape The campus is scheduled to open Aug. 26, bringing 7,600 students — about the size of Stetson University and Rollins College combined — plus hundreds more staffers and faculty members to the area. So far about 7,000 have enrolled, with about 300 faculty and staff planned to work there, said Heather Smith, a UCF spokeswoman.

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