Beat Kahli, the developer of Avalon

Beat Kahli, the developer of Avalon Park, a 1,860-acre TND east of Orlando, Florida, is taking an unusual approach to expanding the project’s fledgling town center. In October, 1999, Kahli announced that he was willing to invest in entrepreneurs who wanted to locate either retail businesses or offices in the town center. The offer yielded more than 40 inquiries in a few weeks, and by mid-November Kahli was in negotiations with the first business, an Irish-style pub. Avalon Park has approval for 500,000 square feet of commercial space, and Kahli has already invested in a convenience store, a bakery, and a coffee shop, which opened in December. The operator of the convenience store owns one third of the equity and has three years to buy back one third from Kahli to gain control of the business. The first phase of the town center will include 6,800 square feet of retail space. Kahli is able to do what few developers can, in part because he sold off 7,500 of Avalon Park’s original 9,400 acres to the county and the local water management district and thus began construction without any debts. Houses are complete in two of the 15 planned villages, and work on a third village and the first of 800 rental units will begin early in 2000. The current plan for Avalon Park is by Canin Associates. The original master plan was by Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co.